Meshuggah: Koloss

Once again the Swedish Metallic trendsetter's, Meshuggah, have turned another corner in what has seemed to have been 15 plus years of setting the pace in the realm of Extreme, Math or Djent Metal. What ever genre you call it, submitted for your aural pleasure is the new opus from the Mighty Meshuggah, entitled Koloss. This new record is 54 plus minutes of pure Heavy goodness.

From the word go on Koloss, the Nordic Masters are hell bent on showing that they are indeed about to forge unto another new territory for themselves. The immediate impact of "I Am Colossus" sets the tone of the record, which you will find to be Meshuggah's most straight ahead offering to date. But do not fret my friends, the groove and polyrhythm beats are all still there in abundance, just much more direct and to the point. Koloss is a 10 track record that definitely takes you on a roller coaster of a ride in a way that only Meshuggah could pull off. As any Meshuggah fan already knows,these guys never make the same record twice and tend to do the opposite of what the last year was like. Chaosphere (a life altering release) was a light speed, bombastic, sensory overload of an album and the record that followed was Nothing, its complete polar opposite, slow and brooding. Koloss works within those same parameters, forging a new trail of going straight up the middle, which is exactly what you wouldn't expect from these guys. Ya gotta love them!

From the blast beats of "The Hurt That Finds You First" and its all out thrashing of your skull to the Nothing era, slow and heavy feel of "Behind The Sun" and back again to the freight train drumming of the Metal drum god, Tomas Haake on "The Demon's Name Is Surveillance". Meshuggah proves once again that they can do anything and they do it balls out. There are no songs under 4 minutes long, so that means that the headbanging groove that you will find your head bopping to will be getting its money's worth!

Koloss also finds lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal playing more solos than the recent past and he is his normal Thordendal off- kiltered self. His solos are those that could only be pulled off by his own virtuoso self. The band itself is in top notch form on Koloss. VocalistJens Kidman shouts and bellows in his normal greatness, while Marten Hagströmon guitar and Dick Lövgren on bass help lock down the multitudes of syncopated heavy riffing that Thordendal and Haake push into the stratosphere. In a nutshell, Meshuggah rules!

OK, so let's recap. Koloss is a killer record,brimming with 10 tracks of Math Metal goodness that lasts over 54 minutes. It falls somewhere in between Nothing and Obzen but much more straight ahead and to the point. If you are a Meshuggah fan (and who isn't?!!) you will dig this record, but it may take a few spins for it to sink into that thick skull of yours. It is a little bit of a departure of sorts for Meshuggah, but at the same time it certainly doesn't sound like anyone else BUT Meshuggah. Koloss is grinding, has that swagger and groove that you have come to expect and is HEAVY as hell, but in a different way for these guys. Just go get this record and strap in. And oh yeah, Meshuggah Rules!

Track Listing

1. I am Colossus
2. The Demon's Name Is Surveillance
3. Do Not Look Down
4. Behind The Sun
5. The Hurt That Finds You First
6. Marrow
7. Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion
8. Swarm
9. Demiurge
10. The Last Vigil

Added: March 27th 2012
Reviewer: Butch Jones
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 3076
Language: english

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