I'm starting to realise that it may not be completely apparent what you cats are on about when you say 'groove' in relation to these guys, I'm lost.

they're supposed to be hypnotic right? do you guys nod your head to the rhythms or something? I hear people say despite being complex by some token, a lot of the structures are deceptively simple and bizarrely accessible.

idk these guys remain 100% aesthetic to me (well maybe 90%), sometimes that aesthetic is pretty cool (see Chaosphere), but in the main it all seems rather monotonous

food for thought I guess

Album Rating: 4.5

"do you guys nod your head to the rhythms or something"



YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Always.



"despite being complex by some token, a lot of the structures are deceptively simple and bizarrely accessible"



Also true. A lot of it is in 4/4.

none of their other songs have ever gotten me quite like New Millennium Cyanide Christ, not sure what it is specifically about that one either

band is confusing

like often I'll get a very fleeting bit of satisfaction from a change-up and then as soon as the 'junz' have pommelled me for a couple of seconds I'm already tired of it and wanting new things, I guess it may be because a lot of their material sounds so similar to me that I'm always looking for something 'different' to mix things up

Album Rating: 4.5

True. They are. Good pick though, have you seen the (PERFECT!) vid for that one? It tells you all you need to know about them.



https://youtu.be/4A_tSyJBsRQ

Album Rating: 4.5

@Demon It literally has taken me years to fully understand and connect with many of their tracks. It's also one of those things that they're better to listen while doing another activity and/or if you're really in the right mental for it. Once you're ready to go into a trance and have the right kind of stamina you will connect with more of it, and it ends up being sort of GOAT tier music.



You may be where I was 8 years ago. Nothing was my least favorite album because it sounded monotonous. It took almost a decade to fully appreciate it, I just it was just the right place and the right time. Maybe the right speakers, the right mood, some other life events. When I'm in a bad place Meshuggah helps mentally cleanse me so I probably needed that too. And I took a bit of a break from music, as in very lightly here and there, so hearing Meshuggah as my first full run coming out of a break is also different than usual. So after Immutable released, I went back through the discog, and Nothing stood out in a way it never had before. But also, I somehow found a way to appreciate C33 even more, even though I already had it 5'd.

Album Rating: 4.5

In my case, I mention groove in the sense that this might be the loosest and most organic they've ever sounded. It's true that by nature they've always had a deceptively straightforward rhytmic bed. It just feels less quantized, and with a bit more swing to it.



As a hobbyist, I'm a techno DJ, because while I've always been first and foremost a metalhead, there's some hypnotic qualities and a specific goove tht I need from time to time and not a lot of metal has that. Meshuggah might be the metal band closest to that need of mine, and this album gets me in a techno mood, if that makes sense.

Album Rating: 4.0

I dunno the more I spin it the more it's growing on me



But yeah, it's not obZen

Album Rating: 5.0

@Kinetic that's a cool perspective, and I think I understand your point. That's also why I prefer Meshuggah over other most Meshuggah-influenced bands (djent, etc) because nobody can imitate that hypnotic factor.

Album Rating: 4.5

I really don’t mosh to Meshuggah, Ive heard em for a couple decaded already enough that I just dance to them when I shove all the weaker audience aside by my hand to course to the front of the stage.

I also see em with some techno-like hypnotisms in some of their rhythms. I get it with I Am That Thirst lol

Album Rating: 4.0

"'They Move Below' is a lengthy instrumental that starts gently and ends djently". Absolutely genius writing.

Album Rating: 4.0

"Thordendal’s leads are precisely as bizarre and perfect as they’ve always been, with even the shortest phrases containing more creativity than your average shred hero can arouse in a 20-minute prog epic."



Wow, and I took that one personally.

Album Rating: 4.0

Abysmal Eye works so good here by contrast. Its like Surveillance after Colossus.

“do you guys nod your head to the rhythms or something“

Quite a bit of foot tapping ensues as well, and hip shaking, for moi

Album Rating: 4.5

No offense Demon but how do you NOT bob your head / shake your hips to Meshuggah rhythms lol. Especially to a song like New Millennium

I did single that one out as my fave 'shug, Chaosphere hit the spot for a while

still not sure how it happened mind

hip shaking [2]

Album Rating: 4.5

It’s just the primal feeling I get listening to them that it literally makes my body want to move. Because they do so many songs in 4/4 with polyrhythms on top they are usually really easy to groove to.

Album Rating: 4.0

"Quite a bit of foot tapping ensues as well, and hip shaking, for moi"



yepp nod on down beats foot tap in double time its literally impossible to sit still

Album Rating: 4.0

Chest-hitting with fist for me

Album Rating: 4.0

"It literally has taken me years to fully understand and connect with many of their tracks. It's also one of those things that they're better to listen while doing another activity and/or if you're really in the right mental for it. Once you're ready to go into a trance and have the right kind of stamina you will connect with more of it, and it ends up being sort of GOAT tier music."



Me too, it took me about 8 years to get into Catch 33, but once it finally clicked, hot damn.