While I think that Meshuggah's output in the 2000's wasn't any good as a whole (particularly "Nothing" and "Catch Thirtythr33"), the one song EP "I" is an exception. This 21 minute-long song is what Meshuggah should sound like, and despite only being one song, its length and good use of dynamics makes it as satisfying as listening to a whole album. True, the guitars are still really downtuned, but they're used to create … more
It begins. Rolling drums underlying a choppy, muted riff, wrung through myriad rhythmic permutations. It is repeated for 90 seconds before disappearing under a hurricane of screaming dissonance, with guitars, screams, and drums all smeared together. Then it stops, ever so briefly. Two minutes. Cymbals crash on every quarter-note, the snare cracks on every eighth-note. Below this anchor for the 16-note cycle, double-bass pedals and brutal 8-string guitars pound out terrorizing … more