I love Nothing Bonus Dvd Meshuggah
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masters of Subtlety,
By A Customer
The people who have written reviews of this album saying that "Nothing" doesn't constitute anything new for Meshuggah need to listen more closely. Meshuggah's rhythmic approach on "Nothing" attains an unprecedented level of complexity. In fact, the record is so sophisticated and subtle that the complexity is easy to overlook, for a casual listener. The band has started to experiment with expanding and contracting the length of a basic riff over the course of a 16 or 32-beat pattern, so that there are several different versions of a given riff that are stated over a particular cycle--many of the riffs are not symmetrical, rhythmically speaking (see the solo section in "Organic Shadows", among other examples). This technique is easy to miss at first, but it is really shocking once you hear it. In addition, they are stretching the phrases of riffs across consecutive 16-beat cycles in a way that they haven't done before (see "Closed Eye Visuals")...
"Nothing" stands as a strong indication of how deep these guys really are. In this kind of music, most bands only progress in terms of getting louder/faster/heavier/more technical solo-wise, etc., but Meshuggah defies expectations with "Nothing". Fans who are expecting them simply to go further in the directions that they explored on albums like DEI and Chaosphere are going to be dissapointed. "Nothing", like all of their other albums, constitutes a new direction, and a complete world unto itself. For those reviewers (who are also musicians) who think that "Nothing" is nothing new, I would encourage you to do a rhythmic analysis of some of the songs--you'll be in for a BIG surprise. "Nothing" is brilliant--I highly recommend it.
Get your Nothing Bonus Dvd Meshuggah Now!
ReplyDeleteMasters of Subtlety, August 16, 2002
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ReplyDeleteMeshuggah did the right thing. Everyone expected another Chaosphere or DEI, but they did the unexpected with a hard left turn towards subltety (for them anyway). I have to admit, when I picked this cd up on the day of it's release and listened to it, I was honestly shocked, and a little dissapointed. I too was expecting the sheer insanity of Chaosphere eleveated to new heights along with classic guitar work of DEI. Now, it is with a better persepective that I review this album. Meshuggah proved their proficiency as artists and musicians by maintaining the disjointed and chaotic nature of their previous albums but with far less playing. They proved they could acheive the same effect and create what is definitely still a Meshuggah album in an entirely different manner than before. I'd call this mastery of the style. How many bands can maintain the essence of what they are all about but radically change the approach.If you haven't yet heard this album, throw your preconceptions out the window and listen to it with a fresh set of ears. Don't listen for Chaosphere, listen for Meshuggah, and try to pick up on what they're laying down. It's good stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe people who have written reviews of this album saying that "Nothing" doesn't constitute anything new for Meshuggah need to listen more closely. Meshuggah's rhythmic approach on "Nothing" attains an unprecedented level of complexity. In fact, the record is so sophisticated and subtle that the complexity is easy to overlook, for a casual listener. The band has started to experiment with expanding and contracting the length of a basic riff over the course of a 16 or 32-beat pattern, so that there are several different versions of a given riff that are stated over a particular cycle--many of the riffs are not symmetrical, rhythmically speaking (see the solo section in "Organic Shadows", among other examples). This technique is easy to miss at first, but it is really shocking once you hear it. In addition, they are stretching the phrases of riffs across consecutive 16-beat cycles in a way that they haven't done before (see "Closed Eye Visuals")... "Nothing" stands as a strong indication of how deep these guys really are. In this kind of music, most bands only progress in terms of getting louder/faster/heavier/more technical solo-wise, etc., but Meshuggah defies expectations with "Nothing". Fans who are expecting them simply to go further in the directions that they explored on albums like DEI and Chaosphere are going to be dissapointed. "Nothing", like all of their other albums, constitutes a new direction, and a complete world unto itself. For those reviewers (who are also musicians) who think that "Nothing" is nothing new, I would encourage you to do a rhythmic analysis of some of the songs--you'll be in for a BIG surprise. "Nothing" is brilliant--I highly recommend it.
ReplyDelete6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
ReplyDelete5.0 out of 5 stars
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ReplyDeleteHonestly, I was completely against this re-recording at first, that was until I my curiosity got the best of me. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. I now understand why Meshuggah went to the trouble re-recording the guitars and re-mixing the album. Clarity. Clarity is the key to this re-recording and I say that because for the first time (without headphones) all of the dissonant intervals come out so much cleaner as they were intended to be heard. In fact, there's more clarity in all of the rhythms and the drums seem to be a little more distant which is not a bad change. There are several areas where the guitars use different punctuation/accents to shorten/lengthen notes or phrasing. This is a GREAT IMPROVEMENT on an already great album!!!!
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