Here is an exploration through a dark and strange world, with its peculiar songs, a sense of unease but also a sense of bravery and defiance. It’s an album with an eerie feel through and through, and its heavy and eerie atmosphere is perfectly executed thanks through its selection of really well-crafted songs.
The music creates a dark feel through its heavy, crushing instrumentals and its either screamed or whispered vocals, as well as some peculiar melodies and that odd, hard to describe quality that Meshuggah’s music often has. That’s obvious in “Abysmal Eve” and its heavy intro with those strange stop-start and exploring-various-notes riffs, and its solo that also explores many notes. Other tracks have plenty of heaviness to go around, like the fast and crushing “Phantoms”, with its wild energy and angry bassline, and the slower but even heavier “The Faultless” with its furious vocals. Or “Light the Short Fuse” with its heavy, almost thrashing riffs, almost lighter and more melodic solo, and its loud screams, “God He Sees in Mirrors” with its loud, spoken-screamed vocals and one of the fastest solos of the album. Along with the heavy music, there is a sense of anger in the titles and lyrics, something about not being a cog in the machine, about surviving through hard times, like many albums released in recent years.
Meshuggah keep using their peculiar style of instrumentals, and making some pretty good songs with it too. They make heavy stuff, faster stuff, and often just take all their time to enjoy their peculiar instrumentals, like on the long intro and the long and repetitive (in a good way) solo of “Ligature Mark”. To enjoy their instrumentation even more, we get not one but three instrumental tracks. “They Move Below” is a 9-minute long instrumental, starting with slow and eerie melodies, sometimes including soft and melancholic ones, then turning into heavier riffs that still use an odd and eerie melody. It’s a strange track in the best way possible, it could be described as experimental and progressive. It seems to have been recorded just for the joy of playing with sinister and eerie melodies. The title alludes to monsters moving below the surface, and it does live up to the eeriness and strangeness of that imagery.
“They Move Below” is the most dedicated to sounding eerie, but other tracks do a good job of it, such as the short and sinister “Black Cathedral”, which as heavy as a death metal track, or one of my favorite songs on the album, “Broken Cog” and its slow and heavy riffs, and scary whispered vocals creating a sense of unease. And then, to end the album, you have the third instrumental “Past Tense”, another track that repeats quiet and slightly sinister melodies, alternating with melancholic ones. Basically, it almost has all the specific characteristics of the album.
Yes, this is an album where you need to describe the music in detail, because of its many peculiar and interesting ideas, and its overall dark and gripping feel. It’s the kind of album where a band perfects and explores their unique sound, and it’s just as fun to talk about as it is to listen to. If you want something that feels eerie and has an identity of its own, while also having lots of tasty and heavy riffs, this should definitely satisfy your cravings and I can’t recommend it enough. Another of the best releases of this new year.
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