Meshuggah - Koloss

Published March 28 2012

*=Staff's pick	I Am Colossus The Demon's Name Is Surveillance* Do Not Look Down* Behind The Sun The Hurt That Finds You First* Marrow Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion Swarm Demigure The Last Vigil

Genre	Progressive Death/Math metal	Jens Kidman	Vocals
Tracks	10	Mårten Hagström	Guitar
Running time	54 Min.	Fredrik Thordendal	Guitar
Label	Nuclear Blast	Dick Lövgren	Bass
Release	28 March 2012	Thomas Haake	Drums
Country	Sweden	-	Keyboard
Producer	Michael Bergstrand
Similar artists	---

Meshuggah are often credited with being the founding fathers of the genre now known as Djent. I can honsetly say, though, that besides the trade mark use of low tuned guitars and strange time signatures, I cannot find lots of similarities between this band, and the Djent-acts of today. They might have paved the way, but they did it like Venom paved the way for bands like Mayhem and Immortal, not with playing similar music.

No matter what you have to say about genres, the fact remains that the norse maniacs in Meshuggah are constituting one of the most important, influential and trailblazing bands in extreme metal of all time. Needless to say, they should feel the pressure to keep the flag high and develop their unique sound, and stay true to the legacy they have created. It´s been fairly obvious for the last few years though, that they are more focused on seeing what´s next for them. The previous two albums ("Catch 33" and "obZen") have been big watersheds for the fans.

After "Catch 33", maybe the most complicated and inaccessible album in their catalogue, they made a U-turn right on the Autobahn, and produced "obZen", maybe their easiest and most listening-friendly album to date. Needless to say, this left the fans a little bit confused, and probably mad. For you either loved "Catch 33" and hated "obZen", or the other way around.

So, the main concern on many peoples minds anticipating this album, would have been the issue of whether they would continue down the line of "obZen", or return to their more technical and confusing roots. The answer: They followed the line of the easier. With "Koloss" the band has created a sound that is even less complicated than that of "obZen", and also more catchy.

Many parts are surprisingly predictable, and the use of straight and slow 4/4 rythms in Haake´s hands has increased dramatically. But is there anything gained by this? Or are we just talking of things that have gone away? The answer is, that I dare say this is the heaviest and most bulldozing album Meshuggah has delivered. Both the slow, and the more energetic stuff are heavy as f*ck, to put it like a proper gentleman. Never before in the history of head banging has head banging been more meaningful.

The song writing does not really reach the level of "Chaosphere", and the overall impression is "not bad, but you can do better." There is also, compared to the last album, no real "hit" like "Bleed" or "Electric Red" on this album. The closest I think is "The Demon's Name Is Surveillance", but that songs bears all to close similarity to "Bleed", with its fast pace dubble bass drum and straight 4/4, to actually feel like anything more than "Bleed 2.0".

In conclusion: This album is more heavy, and also more accessible than previous albums. But is it better? I want to say that while I find "Koloss" to be pretty dynamic, it´s still does not match up to "obZen". The actual songs are "good enough", and it´s certainly a good album. I listen to it with joy and anticipation, and look forward to the upcoming gigs.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
9	8	8	7	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Olof