It is a suite of instrumental creativity, with at points a feel of the proto metal excursions of King Crimson. In this vein, They Move Below, clocking in at over nine minutes, is the album centrepiece. The inventive guitar solo has a strikingly hypnotic texture and Jens Kidman vocal literally spits out the allegorical lyrics:Ī very exciting element of this album are the numerous experimental instrumental pieces. This is partnered with a magnificent counterpoint guitar drone, and represents an utterly thrilling performance by guitarists Mårten Hagström and Fredrik Thordendal.
The Abysmal Eye, one of the singles from the album, brings some stunning blast beats to the fore, and a crunching repeating riff, full of doom reverb. All of this played with an almost impossible technical precision.
Tomas Haake’s drumming on this track is a complete revelation, as he creatively melds metal and jazz styles with a technique that makes full use of his kit, integrating syncopation, splashing cymbals, and a metal groove. Jens Kidman’s whispered vocals exhibit a quiet menace, before hitting his scary full-on growling. This is the musical launchpad for the dramatic entrance of spiralling psychedelic guitar phrases and keyboard like melodic accents. On this album Meshuggah have made it their mission to push to the extreme, the sonic palette that metal offers, underpinning this with some fabulous musicianship.īroken Cog opens the album in classic Meshuggah mode, with a colossal, thundering, staccato guitar and drums riff. The band formed back in 1987, and Immutable is their ninth album. Meshuggah, from Sweden, are metal’s greatest exponents of crushing technical death metal, both on record and with their legendary live performances. Meshuggah, with their incredible new album Immutable, continue to lead the way in producing dazzling and experimental metal.