MP3: Meshuggah - Pravus
Meshuggah, at this point in their career, has lost the element of surprise. However, they continue to impress as they remain the world's greatest math-metal champions. I suspect that if anyone even attempted to challenge them, they'd be written off as mere imitators no matter how good they are because, let's face it, Meshuggah has the market cornered for hyper-syncopated metal. They wrote the damn book. So taking this into consideration, it's hard to give a fair assessment of the band's new album "obZen". It sounds like Meshuggah as only Meshuggah does. Personally, I find that it hearkens back a bit towards "Chaosphere" in that there's a fairly consistent mid-tempo 4/4 beat in the drum pulse. They mix it up a bit of course, but it's those deceptively simple riffs that are often their heaviest and most memorable and that's why I've chosen "Pravus" as today's mp3 selection. All the Meshuggah trademarks are present, including Fredrik Thorendal's signature discordant leads, though the best part though comes after the solo section in what I guess you could call the breakdown. When they settle into a groove like that, they're unstoppable. And the subtle melodic counterpoint is absolutely killer as well. It's great, but it's also exactly what you'd expect, so it's a bit tougher to get excited about it.
Meshuggah - Pravus