Very few bands, in the recent past, have earned the Double D’s seal of approval which entails violent man-breast shaking and the purchasing of the band’s entire discography. Such bands include Crowbar, Gorguts, Autopsy, Immolation, Grief, and a few select others. This type of thinking (where one believes a band’s greatness will continue for many albums) was disturbed slightly by Malevolent Creation, a band who I began to think of as a grab bag at a porn magazine factory with each album - you could get some real hardcore stuff (Retribution), some mediocre lesbian stuff with no make-out scenes (Eternal), some decent and pleasant amateur stuff (The Fine Art of Murder), and some real gay stuff (Envenomed). My overall thoughts on the band, in this case Malevolent Creation, did not I change - I still consider them a great band with some great albums. Meshuggah also fell into this category; after hearing Destroy-Erase-Improve, I was captivated by the unique sound and felt this band was worthy of some man-breast shake and bake. I took me a while to warm up to Contradictions Collapse, the band’s first album, but I soon realized that this too was a masterpiece. None was the move to the band’s then current direction (prior to Destroy - Erase - Improve) and I believed this was an excellent blend of simplistic brutality. I once had a radio show at school, where I first heard Chaosphere, and I was not impressed by the tinny sound nor the band’s urge to become more simplistic. It is here that I realized that few bands can maintain appeal for many albums.

Why did I buy this album? I guess because I had hoped for a return to the glory days of the first three albums and I was indeed let down. This album is just way too simplistic and boring to like. I had thought it was impossible for Meshuggah to become any more simplistic without jeopardizing their appeal. Guess what? They proved me right! If you listen to the first minute of each song, you have pretty much got an idea of the rest of the song. Apparently the band opted for 8 string guitars and no bass player, which really doesn’t make a difference. You could have played these songs with a guitar with three plastic strings (which may be feasible) and four bass players and it would not have helped much. I must admit that, initially, I disliked the album. Then, I liked it for a little while because I listened to all of track 4 but then realized that I was trying too hard to like it. I have come full circle; it still stinks.

The main problem is the boring, single string notes and lack of odd chord progressions which made them originally appealing. I’d rather not rate this album on their "off-time" beats because that is what I have come to expect. Many people still cling to this as the band’s claim to fame and fill their Boston crème doughnuts with their own special blend of man’s milk over 13/8ths and 400/54ths time but I refuse to. The drummer who once pounded out the oddest rhythms that were impossible to even air-drum to is lost in a sea of mundane riffs and over-simplistic rhythms.

Gone are the bizarre chord progressions, stop/go and stop/go again riffs, the simple yet intense head-banging rampages, the unique solos, and the angry throat of the vocalist. On this album, the vocals are reminiscent of what the Minnesota Viking’s logo, a bearded Viking with horned helmet, would sound like if personified. I heard he was once good in a band called Hagar. Actually, I am not sure what he would sound like but the vocalist has obviously shown signs that shouting for so many years can become detrimental to one’s vocals.

And like a drunk scouring the bar at closing time, hoping for one last crack at a romp with some grotesque female, I purchased Meshuggah’s I. About 2 minutes of the 22 minute song showed signs of improvement. At this moment I had an epiphany of sorts: If any band from any genre of music created a 22 minute song, I was sure I’d like 2 minutes of it. So, do yourself a favor and steer yourself away from this. If you like heavy, straightforward yet innovative metal with a bevy of unique twists and a penchant for classic head-banging, you would do fine with Meshuggah’s first three releases. Be warned that None and Destroy-Erase-Improve are great albums in the classic Meshuggah style. Their first release is heavy in its own right but has somewhat of an early Metallica feel mixed in with the stereotypical Meshuggah sound.

Ironic that I mention Metallica because this is the best parallel I can make to Meshuggah in terms of career path. Metallica, a band that once hammered out the greatest songs, slowly began to fade in terms of song quality and overall violence (beginning with The Black Album) and opted for a more radio-friendly and simplistic approach. The masses, which included casual Metallica fans, most of the mainstream, and men with tribal band tattoos began to suck violently at the teat that was the new Metallica. Gone were the old fans who were quickly replaced by a new breed of simple listener. It is almost as if the common radio listener cringes at the sound of technicality, innovation, and uniqueness and bands that vary their sound are well aware of this phenomenon. But those old fans are still at shows, waiting to hear "Creeping Death", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", and "Harvester of Sorrow". This sad yet poetic description of the career of Metallica can be applied to Meshuggah, right down to the old fans at shows waiting to hear "Cadaverous Mastication", "Humiliative", and "Future Breed Machine".

As I mentioned in the introduction, I do not dislike the band as a whole for their new found approach which melds super-simplistic riffs with an attempt to be the modern Pink Floyd (in terms of "drug-induced weirdness" - watch their new video). I’ll just stick with the older stuff (like in the cases of Metallica and Malevolent Creation).

Written By: Double Ds