1998
Genre: Metal
Playing time: 47:28
Band homepage: http://www.meshuggah.net
Tracklist:
Concatenation
New Millennium Cyanide Christ
Corridor Of Chameleons
[url=http://www.meshuggah.net/samples/chaos04.mp3]Neurotica[/url]
[url=ttp://www.meshuggah.net/samples/chaos05.mp3]The Mouth Licking what You've Bled[/url]
Sane
[url=http://www.meshuggah.net/samples/chaos07.mp3]The Exquisite Machinery of Torture[/url]
[url=http://www.meshuggah.net/samples/chaos08.mp3]Elastic[/url]
A nice little intro First off, I could have chosen to classify this album to be a death metal album, but that wouldn't have done it justice, plus, I wouldn't want anyone to have any preconcieved notions about Meshuggah's sound. This album is not a death metal album, in my eyes. It is what I would call a mindfuck metal album. [copyright '05] Each song on Chaosphere just makes me wonder what it would feel like to be able to play in such quirky rythms. Ok, now onto a little history of the band. Meshuggah started off in 1985 in Sweden under the title Matallien. Jens Kidman, vocalist, left after a few years to form a new band, but he and lead guitarist Fredrik Thornendal reformed the band. Through the years, they picked up Thomas Haake, raved as one of metals most insane drummers, and M"rten Hagstr"m as the two-man on guitar. The released a pair of full-length albums, Chaosphere being their third in 1998.
Before you start listening, I would like you look for the crash cymbal on Concancation. You will find that it is in standard 4/4 time. Perhaps Meshuggah isn't as complex as everyone thinks? Yeah, then listen for the guitar. 3/4 time. Yup, so much for simple. The first track from Chaosphere starts off with every insturment in full force, just so that you don't get into the album thinking you may have a chance at surviving the beating you are about to recieve. At around 2:15, you'll hear a very dissonant guitar solo, almost fit for an 8 bit Nintendo game. The second track starts off with another chunky, off timed guitar riff start us off on this track. This track displays some of Jens Kidman's most powerful vocals, including a 12 second scream at around the 4 minute mark. At 3:00 Thornendal rips into another very dessonant solo, only this time, he displays his superior legato skills, making it perhaps my favorite solo of his from Chaosphere. Corridor of Chameleons isn't one of my favorite tracks, but it is still a very solid track, the highlights being the main drum riff, featuring Haake's octopus-like tendencies, and again, Thornendal's "I wonder what this whammy bar does" solo. Other than that, the song is fairly simple as far as Meshuggah goes. The fourth track, Neurotica, starts off with more of a tribal beat thrown down by Thomas Haake, and one of the more complex rythms. When I say more complex when talking about Meshuggah, I mean borderline incomprehensible. Meshuggah at their finest.
I think at this point, the album begins to decline in quality. I still don't mind listening to it, but it isn't quite up to the typical jams that I know Meshuggah can throw down. Due to their similarities, I think that Meshuggah should have left Sane and The Mouth Licking what You've Bled as one track. This would have made it a much stronger, more progressive track. They each have a face-melting solo, and more chunky riffs, but neither of them seems to click with me. The Exquisite Machinery of Torture picks the album up again, mainly due to the spoken verse, adding another dark element to the craggy Meshuggah soundscape. The solo is similair to the solo from Concancation in the way that they sound like they could possibly belong on a video game. The last song on the album, Elastic, is mainly white noise, therefore I don't have much to say on it.
Overall, I think Meshuggah have a great album on their hands. Even if you don't like the complex wall of sound created by Meshuggah, you must appreciate their very unique talents. I gave it a 4/5. Minus points for the lag near the end, but nonetheless, and awesome find.
There you are. My first review. I tired to keep it short as to avoid too many people thinking tl;dr. Now, if you haven't already, go out and buy this album!
