Meshuggah
Koloss

Track 1: "I Am Colossus". The decryption code of Meshuggah? The five Swedes are attempting to carve the immutable order of a genre. The death metal that arises from their precious compositional madness is a leviathan of "dominance and greed". Matter to mold for their exclusive and greedy means: there is no homage to the principles in this musical arrangement puppet of Chaos. Or rather, the harmonic rule is indeed necessary and much appreciated. But it is useful as long as it can be made an instrument of the dissonant sound wall built by the band. By now, not even they can use a single chromatic phrase against this "colossus" anymore. The entire structure of all would turn against them.

Track 2: "The Demon's Name Is Surveillance". Modern sound, free. Sure, but it's only a facade: the demon's real name is total control. "All-seeing instruments" and "supreme perception" that can do anything. Deep down, Meshuggah pursues the changeability of executive perfection, the unsurpassable sound of divinity. The icy pick of this type of future superhuman knows no smudge, nor random oscillation of even a tenth of a tone. Even better if through technological expedient.

Track 3: "Do Not Look Down". What do their forms risk becoming once carved in stone? They can no longer be reshaped except at the usurious - and due - price to give them sense again. And halfway through, promptly, that jazzy "djent" tormented by the upstroke snare drum of "Nothing" (2002) is heard again. The Meshuggah mark is born from nothing: we are the product. "Strive, strive, surmount the obstacles". "Become the essence of your goals": we are always the product. Anyway, a great piece.

Track 4: "Behind The Sun". "The doctrine of your unholy trinity - the violence, the spite and the enslavement". What? Now they're even trying to guide our consciences? Instead, the oppressive scores stand out, finally consolidated only with "ObZen" (2008). Tight bass drum triggers appear, always in the middle, almost breaking the progress of the heavy opening doom riffs.

Track 5: "The Hurt That Finds You First". Moving on to the "tupàtupà" bass drum/snare, indispensable. It will serve to crush any remaining passion for any form of conviction. "End this debate, no need to dream of solace". Dissent would be inadvisable: it's necessary to adhere to their creed and simultaneously be aware of the void surrounding us. As usual, halfway through, the track changes register. Towards solutions with descending dynamics, a bit less granite and stereotyped. A fleeting breath of sulfur air.

Track 6: "Marrow": the core of nothingness also prescribes the rules of its perpetuation. It is allowed to make one's way through the meshes of this big-bang solely by gathering the shards of the massacre.

Track 7: "Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion": persistent sulfurous atmospheres, always like at the end of "Nothing". Even thinking about it is daring: the evolution of the Meshuggah sound can never completely abandon these strings.

Track 8: "Swarm" is the usual hornet's nest of riffs so meticulous that they know no comparison. The perfect non-order is thus created and suffers the comparison with other criteria and other harmony relationships. Attempting to propose other solutions would serve only to thinly conceal inexperience.

Track 9: "Demiurge": to the demiurges of extinction, the brand now appears only as a burden. We aspire to this nemesis knowing we cannot rise to the ranks that today belong to the five madmen of Umea. It would not be elegant towards them.

Track 10: "The Last Vigil" is the illuminating chill-out of the finale. Yes indeed, believe it or not, our intention is to represent the daylight. Everything else in the genre, by comparison, deteriorates into darkness. It is irregular, reckless. At most, simple and naive, worthy only of a naive listener.

Corollary from the scribbler: "Nothing" and "ObZen" - even more than the paradox of "Catch 33" (2005) - were shaped by a destructive and nihilistic compositional mass of explosive and invaluable energy. "Koloss" is indeed the same substance. "Koloss," however, intends to definitively establish a canon. But let's not get the idea that Meshuggah are playing at being the "dei ex machina" of death, techno thrash, or whatever it may be.

They have already pushed too far beyond the scene.