Artist: Meshuggah
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 1995
Rating: 5 Skulls
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Title: Destroy Erase Improve Artist: Meshuggah Label: Nuclear Blast Release Date: 1995
Rating: 5 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Kefka X:
Meshuggah has always been a band that you either think are too genius or too mainstream. Those of the latter usually blame the band's more updated nu-metal sound as their excuse for disliking them (well, that or the exposure from Ozzfest.) Those who regard the band as genius already know how incredible this band is, and therefore have no more reason to read this review, because they know what this album is all about (...but it would be nice if you did read the review anyways. :-D )Destroy Erase Improve is arguably Meshuggah's finest achievement in their over-a-decade career (contending only to Chaosphere. Released in 1995, the album was a breath of fresh air in the metal community with a sound and edge all of its own. Musically, this is a giant monster blend of death, thrash, industrial, hardcore and jazz fusion. The result? Ultra-technical and fast industrial metal with tons of thick guitars, polyrhythmic drumming, near-impossible time signatures and changes. It's like listening to a copy of Fear Factory's epic Demanufacture album on a CD player that keeps skipping. It's strangely erratic and sounds cool as hell. The guitars are down-tuned low and are heavy and razor sharp. Tomas Haake's drumwork is unbelievable, combining jazz and improvizational styles with fast industrial death (it's like if Gene Hoglan would use his jazz knowledge in Strapping Young Lad.) Jens Kidman's signature bark never shows any sign of weakness and complements the music's in-your-face style of metal. The whole thing is just plain heavy and sick. It's hard to ignore. It's like being raped by a giant, complex piece of machinery...not that I would know.
The songwriting on this album is definitely the best to come from the band's career. So many bands have difficulty making technicality and groove sound good together; this isn't the case here. Each song is complicated and tight, but not to the point of giving you a headache (a complaint especially with Nothing and the mind-boggling Chaosphere). Each riff is brilliantly written so that in the midst of the chaos, it's still accessible and heavy. Each song is so good that after repeated listens, your favorite track is bound to change. "Future Breed Machine" has to be one of the greatest metal songs ever written. If you can listen to it without wanting to thrash your ass off in a pit, then something is terribly wrong. Did I say "Future Breed Machine"? Damn, I meant "Soul Burn". No wait! I really meant "Transfixion". Here I go again...
It's so hard to explain this band or this album because the style is all it's own. The best comparisons I can make are to Fear Factory, Strapping Young Lad, Static X, and some faint touches of Cynic, Metallica, and Candiria. If your first exposure to the band was Nothing (like most fans of "Norwegian death metal" ...sorry, bad joke) then you should listen to this and give them another chance (although I regard every album Meshuggah has done as much plain good). This is definitely the most accessible the band has and ever will get. There's a lot more here than a nu-metal sound. Fuck the Osbournes and television broadcast and prepare to be defeated by the "new machine."
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