Quite, I was very sad when Jens said their new stuff would be slower but due to a new found love of Funeral Doom/Drone I found this track to be really awesome and if the rest of the CD follows suit this could easily crush ObZen.

I prefer their thrashier chaotic stuff. This is a bit...sleep inducing. Maybe it will grow on me. They usually do.

A downbeat is a slang term for the first beat of the measure, or the accented beats of the meter (as opposed to upbeats). I have absolutely no idea what mindshadow means by bluesy downbeats though.

If that's so, he might be referring to some particular style of accentuation.

That song was about as interesting as watching someone sleep. Speaking of, I almost fell asleep listening to it.

Most of the board here doesn't like Meshuggah on principle, so I wouldn't really expect anything less in terms of criticism.

As for me, love the song. Meshuggah goes doom! Love how they're always moving forward in style!

JT Rager, what the hell do you understand as "doom metal"?

Wha- what? Meshuggah is a lot of things, but being doomy isn't one of them. Maybe JT is talking about a certain atmosphere? The new song is definitely more atmospheric than ObZen.

He's just saying that because the vocalist said that they've been listening to a lot of doom/drone so it probably influenced them in the writing process.

Ah, that makes sense I guess... Still, if they have used any doom/drone influences, it's minimal.

Absolutely love the song! Looking forward to the album.

Reminds me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY3GGCjf6aE

Possibly, though the original may have been even more bluesy as it took me longer to appreciate nothing the second time as the guitars are more prominent less downbeat? - yes I know your being sarcastic




Well ok I worded it wrong and Ilwhyan jumped on me from a great height, what I meant was it sounds bluesy in places (which gives me a feeling of detachment) and the music often drops of(?) scales down(?) then a quieter passage before the chaos ensues again. I meant both bluesy and downbeat sounding. It's not upbeat is it


ask the reviewer who wrote this about Catch 33

This song is growing on me. That pluck pluck pluck at the beginning isn't very good, but once that fades out, the song gets pretty good. The really low bass-y rumble underneath the repeating riff is really awesome. It shakes my surroundings.

I usually like it when bands slow things down but man that was boring...

Funny, I was reminded of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzaI6jQM0wE

Just a big fat whopping LAME.

Listened to it about 3 or 4 times now and I am growing to enjoy it. I wonder what the rest of the album has to offer. If they're all like this I might be disappointed but it will take some time to see.

I still think this'll be their last album before splitting up. I have a hunch.

Is there any reason whatsoever to think that this is true? I've never seen any indication of this and I see no reason why they should stop now, at the height of their popularity. Seems like an unwise move to me for their careers.

There's no evidence of it but I just have a funny feeling. I would love to be wrong, considering I masturbate over this band.

I hope you can masturbate in 23/16 time.

Anyway, about this alleged doom metal that everyone seems to be hearing in this... where is it? I don't see it personally, all I hear is more of the usual CHUGGACHUGGACHUGGACHUG riffs, just slower.

Musically, that would probably be the best thing to happen to the members of Meshuggah. Then, maybe the second Special Defects would finally surface... A lot of Obzen + this new song sound mostly like autopilot.

Does nobody know that all of their songs are in 4/4?

ha! That almost deserves to be sigged. . .
it isn't really that innovative nor is it new, but let's face it, Meshuggah aren't exactly doing us a disservice so far. That song isn't bad at all.

Not strictly. For example, the snare and cymbal pattern in "New Millennium Cyanide Christ" is in 4/4 and the bass drum pattern is in 23/16. And the guitars are almost never in 4/4. The only song they've released which relies on a straight 4/4 time is "Bleed". But I'm not sure how polyrhythms count, so you could be right. Ah well, you live and you learn.

I like the song. Its not amazing or anything but its cool. I dig Meshuggah, can't wait to check the album out.

Anyone ever see them live? They put on a good show? I haven't seen them before and was thinking about catching this tour.

All you have to do is watch the Alive DVD to get your answer. I find myself listening to the CD of Alive more than their full-lengths. The performances are flawless and the production is more bass-y and full than their studio albums, it's very addicting. Plus, the setlist on Alive is perfect.

I don't. What gave you that idea?

Drums are played in 4/4. Guitars aren't.

That is true for many of their songs but for example, the start of Electric Red - I can't see how you could construe that as 4/4

I'm pretty sure the guitars are mostly written in 4/4 with the drums actually utilising the poly rhythms.

Meshuggah is my favorite band this year

All of the members of Meshuggah did. They say that the majority of their songs are based on 4/4 and variants there of. That's also how they view their songs when they play them. Listen to their interviews if you want more info. It's bit of an endless and silly discussion.

Most metal musicians are self taught and have no idea about theory. You can listen for yourself, which it seems you haven't done.

Listen to the intro, it's the easiest to hear it. There are four sections that are in 7/8, or have seven eighth beats. Then there is a measure of 2/4, two quarter notes, and then it repeats. You can clap your hand at every quarter note and get 16 quarter notes, the same amount of quarter notes in four 4/4 measures. The rest of the song repeats the pattern.

It's true that all their songs are in 4/4, but the guitar/bass drum riffs are written with polymeters that shift in just the right way so eventually they eventually align with the 4/4 portions. It's essentially just syncopation, but it's arguably the most complex syncopation you can get.

I've never really been able to get into Meshuggah in the past. When they're good, which usually means, when they're thrashy, they're very good, but when they're doing their slow groove type thing they can put me to sleep. Having said which, I kind of dig a few of the riffs on this new song, and the timing seems fine to me. If you listen to it hard it could get pretty tiring, but if you get into the groove, it's hypnotic enough to carry me along all the way through. My verdict would be, not good enough to get me to buy an album, but enough to peak my interest.

I'm not digging it. I've never been more than a casual listener to Meshuggah, and this doesn't sound all that interesting.

You don't have to have the whole piece in one time signature, adding up all the separate bars to make up one signature of the whole piece. Many pieces change signatures throughout. Combining the rhythms into one is silly.

Well, it seems unfortunate that this is my first Meshuggah song. Booooooorrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnngggggggg..... One-dimensional vocals, far too much repetition without bringing any new ideas to develop the part further. Really it's just a song that goes nowhere.

The re-recorded version features different tempos on a few (I think) of the songs from the original record.
As for this song: I'm speechless. In a bad way, that is. What happened here? I haven't listened to Nothing
as much as their previous and later releases, but I can't remember being this bored by Meshuggah, ever before.
I agree on most of the comments on the drum sound though, it sounds like a thick wall of drums.