Review Summary: If you're going to copy the sound of another band, you might as well copy a good one.
Man, I’m not sure if this is a blatant Meshuggah rip-off or some odd tribute to them but either way Geometrical Metal sounds a lot like Meshuggah. Everything from the writing style to the guitar tone is down note-for-note.
Geometrical Metal is probably the most obvious Meshuggah-influenced album out there. The album title certainly lives up to its name, being very technical and complex, but RXYZYXR has absolutely no personality whatsoever. What gets to me the most is, this band is dead serious. They craft the music they play with careful precision and long, strenuous writing processes. In the end though, it all sounds like a copy of Meshuggah. And to add to the Meshuggah comparisons, RXYZYXR is from Sweden as well. If I wanted to hear Meshuggah, I would’ve listened to a Meshuggah album. This goes to show that hoping for something original is pointless in this day and age, and RXYZYXR is the reason why.
Despite how negative I may seem right now, there are some good things lurking about on
Geometrical Metal. It’s obvious that they copy Meshuggah, but they copy them with such an extreme attention to detail you can’t help but appreciate the little things they put in here, such as polyrhythmic drumming and jazz-fusion soloing on the guitar. These men have learned their respective instruments inside and out. Being very complex and technical, their playing is surely to be appreciated by musicians and casual listeners alike. Their skills show on tracks like
Iwrestledapolarbeartwice where the guitarist(s) show off a little with odd-timed riffing and flashy soloing, or on
Orgasmic Ceiling, where they play some hot *** riffs over a time-changing drum groove. No matter how many flashy guitar parts or super-sweet drum moments pop up, they were all stolen from Meshuggah down the line somewhere. RXYZYXR won’t get any awards for originality, but they will get praise for their meticulous attention to detail and their ridiculous levels of complexity that is ever so common in “Math-Metal”.
RXYZXR may lack any sort of ounce of originality, but they make up for it by being a fun rip-off/tribute to one of the world’s best bands. While they are just an instrumental Meshuggah, they put loads of energy into it and never cease to amaze those who love when a musician can actually play their instrument. I had fun listening to Geometrical Metal, even if it had no personality. I know it seems like I talk too much about the same topic in the review, but it must be stressed that RXYZYXR are a copycat of another band. A commendable, if nothing spectacular, effort from one of the most blatant copy bands in the world, I give this a 3/5.
