Artist: Meshuggah
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8
Within seconds of cranking this baby up it's easy to see why Danish youngsters Scarred By Beauty won the Danish Metal Awards ‘talent of the year' accolade for 2009. This, their debut EP, reveals a band with talent that belies their years and is strong enough to sit alongside some of the best extreme metal to emerge –- even from seasoned professionals –- in a long while. SBB draw their influences from a wide range of extreme metal and have brought it all together to create an utterly savage amalgam that's not unlike Meshuggah meets Death meets Cryptopsy's "The Unspoken King" album (let that Cryptopsy reference be not the death-knell, though. While it was slated by many, that was in the context of the band's former reputation for all-out slaughter). SBB have pulled off an amazing feat with this debut, albeit one that needs a bit of tweaking here and there. The main concern here is in the choice of vocals. While Hatesphere's Jonathan "Joller" Albrechtsen sports a demonic set of lungs, this band would benefit greatly if he were to reign in the screaming a touch, essentially moving SBB away from a metalcore alignment and synching them with a more generalized extreme metal outlook. The vocals on this really hit home with Albrechtsen's shuddering death growls and, used in the sparing fashion evident here, offer a gates-of-hell-opening diversion that's as powerful as bejesus. Super-tight musicianship, well thought out song constructions, and a giant-slaying production make this one of the surprises of the year. Just wind in the screaming a touch and these guys are definitely onto a winner.
- John Norby
I don't really pay much attention to new-school metal, but it makes sense that Scarred By Beauty won best upcoming talent at the most recent Danish Metal Awards because they really are one the best examples of where the genre is at nowadays. All the elements are in good balance: the heaviness, the melodies, the syncopation and technicality, the breakdowns. I hear similarities to bands such as Meshuggah, In Flames and The Psyke Project, but they also throw in a few curveballs like the Deftones, an influence they actually manage to incorporate much better than you might expect. Had I read it before I heard it, I would not have believed it, but these youngsters nail it. Still, not the sort of stuff I really care for, but there's no denying that they are damn good at it.
"We swim" is the title track of their self-released 3-song debut EP. Download the entire thing at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/scarredbybeauty
Scarred By Beauty - We swim
Check out a trailer for the forthcoming Meshuggah live DVD+CD "Alive", coming out in early February: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-o1CfpA1vE
I Am Bones' contribution to the upcoming Crunchy Frog 15th anniversary comp featuring current Danish acts covering tracks from the label's back-cataglogue is now streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/iambonesband
After attempting a Raveonettes song and then Junior Senior, they settled on "Lovesong" by First Floor Power in a version they describe as "Timberlake vs funk-Meshuggah." The entire collection "Saluting the Crunchy Frog-a-logue" comes out September 5.
Math-metal nerds get stoked: Meshuggah and Cynic are touring together in February: http://www.lambgoat.com/news/view.aspx?id=11874
Meshuggah will tour Europe in June with support from Dillinger Escape Plan and Between The Buried And Me. Dates here: http://www.lambgoat.com/news/view.aspx?id=10548
6
Meshuggah hit their stride a few albums ago, for better or for worse. The album opener shows promise for me with probably the most thrash-like song since their debut, and has a relentlessness that hasn't been seen since "Chaosphere". Unfortunately, the promises end there. The simple fact is that they have taken their sound to pretty much everywhere it needed to go and they don't have anything left to add. Despite of all this, "obZen" is a very effective record, and even a more challenging one than the previous two, but it has nothing on the ferocity of "Chaosphere" or the genius of "I". Guitarist Frederik Thordendal's Allan Holdsworth boner has to stop though, album after album he re-hashes the same over-tired solos in the typical overly reverb-ed guitar sound. No more. I will probably still listen to this record plenty of times, which, I guess, is a testament to its quality.
- Simon Thibaudeau
The latest edition of Pitchfork's "Show No Mercy" metal column features interviews with Disfear and Meshuggah: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/49453-column-show-no-mercy
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Ane Brun - Changing of the seasons
02. Nordman - Djävul eller gud
03. Amy Diamond - Music in motion
04. Sibel - The diving belle
05. Jill Johnson - Music Row
06. Takida - Bury the lies
07. Kikki Danielsson - Kikkis bästa
08. Meshuggah - Obzen
09. Fernandoz - Anders & Git - En helt ny dag
10. The Cardigans - Best of
11. Tomas Andersson Wij - En sommar på speed
12. Carola - Främling 25 år
14. Eskobar - Death in Athens
15. Lars Winnerbäck - Daugava
16. Lykke Li - Youth novels
17. Kent - Tillbaka till samtiden
18. Maia Hirasawa - Though, I'm just me (new edition)
19. The Poodles - Sweet trade (new edition)
20. Tommy Körberg - Rakt upp och ner
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Tiger Lou - The loyal
02. TALK 1
03. Karin Ström - Silent night
04. Saft - I do not smoke
05. Caesars - Strawberry weed
06. TALK 2
07. Meshuggah - Bleed
08. Pacific! - Number one
09. Pascal - Längtar efter dig
10. TALK 3
11. Logh - An alliance of hearts
12. Benea Reach - New waters
13. Astrid Swan - Sea/e life
14. TALK 4
15. Lykke Li - I'm good, I'm gone
16. The High Hats - Bitterswede
17. Lis Er Stille - Lorelei
18. TALK 5
19. The Tough Alliance - Leg 7
20. Cosmic Overdose - En av dom
21. The Second Band - The piano machine
22. TALK 6
23. De Stijl - Date times
24. Death Breath - Death breath
25. Montys Loco - Farewell Mr Happy
26. Randy - Freedom song
27. TALK 7
28. Jonas Knutsson & Horn Please! - Snygg Olles polska
29. Moonbabies - Forever changes everything now
30. Kristofer Åström - Conjure me
31. TALK 8
32. Ljudbilden & Piloten - Wedding
33. Anna Leong - Guillotine
34. Convoj - RAMJAC
35. TALK 9
36. Tsukimono - Gloomy Sunday
Scarred By Beauty
Meshuggah
