Meshuggah is the greatest band of all time.

[cyan]

Holy shitfuck...I saw these guys the night before last in Baltimore, and can finally say, now that I've seen them live, that there are no robots involved, no alien technology, and no four-legged Goro-like abominations sitting in front of this drum set. And the best part is, the venue was about the size of my apartment, so I was a good 6 feet from the stage, and 0 feet from the pit.

Tomas Haake (and company) are actually playing this ridiculously complex music themselves, and they appear to be normal human beings. Though I never truly thought otherwise, seeing it in person is something else entirely. The man plays one rhythm with his feet and one hand (on cymbals, for example) and a completely different time signature with his other hand on the snare and toms. Nevermind the fact that his drumkit sports about a dozen cymbals/hi-hats. It's almost as though he has muted his right brain to play one beat, while the rest of his body follows the guitars on a different beat. "crazy" indeed.

Just sitting in my chair and attempting to kick out a 4/4 with my foot while simultaneously beating a 23/16 with my hands is like that old trick where you tap your head and rub your stomach at the same time, multiplied by a thousand. This man has two fucking brains, I swear. (See: 'Stengah', 'Bleed', 'New Millennium Cyanide Christ', or the entire 'Catch Thirty-Three' album).

If you ever have the opportunity to see these fellows (or download some of their stuff), do it! I dream of the day Harmonix puts Meshuggah tracks in a Rock Band game, and simultaneously destroys the lives of a million wannabe drummers who will never in their lives accomplish a 100% score on Expert on those tracks.

[Dave Gray]

Horrible.  That guy sounds like a barking dog.

To me, all of that sounds very difficult, but unfortunately not very good.

....not to crap all over your tastes.  I think that kind of music just isn't my thing.

[Guru-In-Vegas]

All I gotta say is...Holy HELL!!!

This guys a MONSTER!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5YEqmIIdj8

[cyan]

Horrible.  That guy sounds like a barking dog.

To me, all of that sounds very difficult, but unfortunately not very good.

....not to crap all over your tastes.  I think that kind of music just isn't my thing.

Well, not all bands can "sound as good" as Nickelback, or whatever else gay shit 'regular jackoffs' listen to.

Anyway, that's not even Meshuggah's drummer...it's Morgan Agren from Thordendal's 'Sol Niger Within' solo album. Here's a better video of Meshuggah drummer (and songwriter) Tomas Haake:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5prrbihsb3g

And that's one of their extraordinarily sloooooow songs.

Are you saying THIS and THIS sounds like a barking dog??
What kinds of dogs do they have down there in florida?

Sounds to me like a barking God.
Oh man, game over.

[Dave Gray]

So I figured I may have clicked on a abnormally canine song, so I checked your first link.

Holy hell.  It's a guy screaming.

I can't believe people like this shit.

[Guru-In-Vegas]

I like it.  I've never heard of them before.  I'm gonna go kick Ms. Guru's son in the face now...

[Househead]

I know the guy can play his stuff....but I grew out of that angst filled music when I graduated HS.

[Phishfan]

I'll give the drummer credit for doing something difficult, but can't say anyone else is doing anything complex. All I heard was four chord metal crap. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy some music with angst, but this doesn't appeal to me either. To be honest it sounds like two different drummers that are not on the same beat, kind of like a second song coming through that shouldn't be there.

[cyan]

but can't say anyone else is doing anything complex. All I heard was four chord metal crap.

There's not an emoticon on this site for that comment. 'Four chord metal crap' isn't usually played on 8-string guitars with rhythm changes every 12 seconds. You don't have any idea what you're talking about.

Listen to the solo in Stengah (first red link above), or the entirety of the video Guru posted and then reconsider the fact that you just said you don't hear complexity in anything other than the drums. Nevermind the fact that the polymetric patterns he's playing are difficult enough to transition to and from without the distraction of playing alongside a drummer who's playing in a completely different time signature. Many guitarists couldn't play this stuff in a soundproof room by themselves. And He does it with a mangled 2nd-fret finger. He cut the tip of that finger off years ago in an accident and it never fully healed.

Househead...Jens Kidman is speaking English in these songs, believe it or not. There's nothing angsty about any of this lyrical content. Korn? Certainly. Meshuggah? Not in the least. Their vocal content is best-described on the band's wiki page as: Abstract commentaries on the self, society, mendaciousness, contradictions, transhumanism, life / death duality, the human condition, and spatial/4th dimensional concepts.

Or do you just mean any music with loud, screaming vocals is "angst-filled"? I can scream the words to "Close to You" by The Carpenters...that doesn't make them 'angst-filled'

[Sunstroke]

I got about 12 seconds in...before dashing to the cabinet for some aspirin.

Wow...

[Househead]

I admit not really listening to the substance of the vocal content. However, screaming supported by heavy drums and guitars just does not it anymore for me. Not too long ago a wiped off the dust of an old slayer and sepultura albums and wondered how I could even listen to this stuff when I was younger...but whatever, everyone has their own taste and who am I too judge. Most people don't like, appreciate or understand my music too and view it as monotonous beats and don't comprehend the depth and subtlety of it.

[bsmooth]

Househead...Jens Kidman is speaking English in these songs, believe it or not. There's nothing angsty about any of this lyrical content. Korn? Certainly. Meshuggah? Not in the least. Their vocal content is best-described on the band's wiki page as: Abstract commentaries on the self, society, mendaciousness, contradictions, transhumanism, life / death duality, the human condition, and spatial/4th dimensional concepts.

Or do you just mean any music with loud, screaming vocals is "angst-filled"? I can scream the words to "Close to You" by The Carpenters...that doesn't make them 'angst-filled'

Good god man get over yourself. That desription is the biggest line of horseshit I have heard in a long time. It is deathmetal, it is all about being dark, and angry. At least you can understand some of his lyrics unlike a lot of screamers. SOAD has a lot more to say about social commentary in their songs than the examples you and Guru have put up for us to partake.
Also take your elitest view and shove it. Just because you do not like anything else does not make your views more valid. He is a great drummer, but I do not think he is a level above Portnoy, they are both elite drummers.

[Dave Gray]

Lacerating pains of degeneration speed through your
trembling mind
Still, in machine-like strife you gain another mile
The temporary elusive goal: To reach the solace, to
feed once more
upon the synthetic reaper of loss. No matter the
outcome. No matter the cost

Cold and stinging needs tearing through the halls
Of your defiled, flesh made temple with its closing
walls
Still you claim the worshippers pose and you bow. You
kneel

Control: once superior, now a docile pet at chaos'
feet
Pulling the leash as it trails the scent to where all
hurt recedes
Your past a blurry patch in mind, your future once;
now thin dreams filed
Toward the lights of need you strive - to drink into
your vein the shine

Beaten to the unforgiving ground. Lashed into
submission
- By the inner starving demon. By its unrelenting
hand
Still you claim the worshippers pose and you bow. You
kneel to the syringe

Answering only to authorities of sedation. Their
calls the only ones heeded
A worn out soldier touched by their contagion. A
battered drone at their feet
You're the one betrayed. An outcast set afire by your
inner war
Your burning self so far astray. A combustion fanned
from within your core

These are the lyrics to the first song that you posted, Cyan.  It sure reads angst filled to me.

...not that I care that it's angst filled.  I just think it's bad.


I have friends who like this kind of music, and are always trying to get me to appreciate it, but I just can't.  I see that it's difficult, but I don't see that it's worthwhile.  I like the Beatles.  Could Ringo play this stuff?  Not likely.  ...but I also don't think think that he should.

[cyan]

Good god man get over yourself. That desription is the biggest line of horseshit I have heard in a long time. It is deathmetal, it is all about being dark, and angry. At least you can understand some of his lyrics unlike a lot of screamers. SOAD has a lot more to say about social commentary in their songs than the examples you and Guru have put up for us to partake.
Also take your elitest view and shove it. Just because you do not like anything else does not make your views more valid. He is a great drummer, but I do not think he is a level above Portnoy, they are both elite drummers.

No, it isn't. At least bring valid arguments to the table, especially to back up personal attacks like "get over yourself" and "elitist." Meshuggah has never been called 'Death Metal' by any metal afficianado or journalist. They've been experimental/mathematical/avant-garde since day one. In fact, the very definition of Avant-garde metal calls attention to it's dissimilarity from Death Metal:

"Avant-Garde Metal cannot be treated like other genres, such as Black, Death, Doom, Thrash, etc..." - Metal-observer.com

Grouping them all together is like saying The Beach Boys and Nirvana are "all the same" because they're both Rock groups. If you're going to go out of the way to show how little you know about Meshuggah's music, why not just limit your comments to "I don't like it", rather than trying to justify them? I never said I didn't like anything else, nor did I say Haake was better than Portnoy.

And besides, when the fuck did I say anything remotely elitist or self-appreciative? I said I like them. That's pretty simple. I never called anyone stupid for not liking them, and I never said anyone "didn't get it" (though I just as easily could have). In fact, the only thing remotely "elitist" that I said was that other stuff like Nickelback was "gay." However, as we all know, Nickelback is gay, and they suck major fucking ass. So for someone to point that out is not elitist, it's common sense.

If you're referring to the "you don't know what you're talking about" comment...again, not elitist...statement of fact. To say this music is easy to play, or not technical is false. Even those in this thread who don't like the music have acknowledged that fact.

[cyan]

These are the lyrics to the first song that you posted, Cyan.  It sure reads angst filled to me.

...not that I care that it's angst filled.  I just think it's bad.


I have friends who like this kind of music, and are always trying to get me to appreciate it, but I just can't.  I see that it's difficult, but I don't see that it's worthwhile.  I like the Beatles.  Could Ringo play this stuff?  Not likely.  ...but I also don't think think that he should.

That reads loud and clear to me like a song about addiction, not angst.

but I guess that's one of the great things about music, you can interpret it however you want.