Meshuggah

Sweden's experimental metal outfit Meshuggah constructs an intricate fusion of styles all its own, merging expansive math rock, progressive forms, layered polyrhythms, and jazz-derived chromatic harmonies inside technically demanding, polymetered pieces steeped in technical death metal. Both praised and critiqued for originating the "djent" metal aesthetic, the group earned the early label "intellectual death metal" for its more thrash-focused early releases. Their 1991 debut Contradictions Collapse redirected the genre's trajectory. Although relentless road warriors, they enter the studio only infrequently, issuing just two further albums across the remainder of the 1990s. The divisive 2002 album Nothing reduced tempos, brought in eight-string guitars, and probed tonal dissonance. The 2004 I EP consisted solely of one continuous, spiraling 21-minute piece. obZen, released in 2008, revived thrash energy and earned a Swedish Grammy nomination. Sensitive to copyists, Meshuggah altered direction once more with 2012's Koloss, adopting a slower, groove-centered method while retaining their signature technical precision. The Violent Sleep of Reason, issued in 2016, preserved that groove emphasis yet delivered still more elaborately built compositions. Following multiple global tours and the COVID-19 pandemic hiatus, they resurfaced with Immutable in 2022.

Meshuggah first took shape in 1985. Initially called Metallien, the founding members comprised vocalist Roger Olofsson, guitarists Peder Gustafsson and Fredrik Thordendal, bassist Janne Wiklund, and drummer Örjan Lundmark. After circulating demos, the original collective dissolved. Thordendal persisted under a fresh configuration and moniker. The early Meshuggah lineup also featured vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarist Johan Sjögren, bassist Jörgen Lindmark, and drummer Per Sjögren. Several demos emerged before Kidman departed to establish Calipash, prompting the remaining members to disband as well. Once Kidman exited his subsequent project, he and Thordendal chose to revive the Meshuggah name.

The band unveiled a three-song mini-LP in 1989. After inking a deal with Nuclear Blast and replacing Lundmark with drummer Tomas Haake, they delivered the full-length Contradictions Collapse in 1991. Second guitarist Mårten Hagström joined for the 1993 None EP, which preceded Selfcaged by two years; during the gap, however, the group maintained a reduced presence after Thordendal lost a finger in a carpentry mishap and Haake sustained a hand injury from an unexplained grinder incident. Destroy Erase Improve surfaced later in 1995, earning critical acclaim for its intricate tempos and abstract sensibility. Meshuggah issued the 1997 The True Human Design EP, while Thordendal's side project Special Defects simultaneously released the LP Sol Niger Within. The band reconvened for 1998's Chaosphere, a dense, thunderous recording remarkable for both its compositional density and dynamic range. Extensive touring followed, drawing notice from mainstream music publications.

After stepping away from the road, Meshuggah remained largely inactive apart from a widely panned rarities collection. They resurfaced in summer 2002 with the controversial Nothing, which entered the Top 200 and marked the first such achievement for any Nuclear Blast act. The record adopted nearly glacial tempos, incorporated eight-string guitars for broader tonal range, introduced psych-inflected passages, and delved into tonal and modal dissonance. Distinct in nearly every aspect, the album made limited mainstream inroads yet captivated metal listeners with its 7/4 rhythms and esoteric lyrics. Endorsement from Jack Osbourne secured an Ozzfest slot on the second stage, where the band often overshadowed peers with their singular, ferocious math metal.

Following a short pause, Meshuggah issued the I EP in 2004. Built around a single extended track, its elaborate arrangements and sonic explorations anticipated the circular, grinding grooves and melodic orchestration later heard on 2005's Catch Thirty-Three. Although segmented into 13 parts, the latter functioned as one continuous, suite-like 47-minute work and represented the first occasion the group employed programmed drums as a compositional device. The release entered the Top 200 in its opening week and received a Swedish Grammy nomination.

After further touring, Meshuggah spent more than a year tracking 2008's obZen. Issued in March ahead of a worldwide trek, the album drew praise—and broadened the group's international audience—for its hook-driven return to thrash and mathy death metal without relinquishing compositional rigor or technical advancement. The melodic orchestration central to Catch Thirty-Three gave way entirely to a direct, almost industrial riffing and rhythmic approach. It too garnered a Swedish Grammy nomination in the Best Hard Rock category. The live concert DVD Alive followed in February in both Europe and the U.S.

Upon returning to the studio, Meshuggah remained acutely conscious of their numerous imitators. Accordingly, they changed course again. The seventh album, Koloss, arrived in 2012 and pursued a slower, groove-oriented compositional stance, yielding a more organic atmospheric intensity centered on precise execution of intricate, tightly syncopated riffs rather than velocity or soloing. The set charted in 13 countries and reached the U.S. Top 20. The following year they released the single and video pairing album tracks "I Am Colossus" and "Pitch Black" backed with "Dancers to a Discordant System (Live)," while the live audio/video document The Ophidian Trek appeared in 2014. In summer 2016, in partnership with Nuclear Blast, the band issued the limited-edition vinyl box set 25 Years of Musical Deviance, capped at 1,000 copies. Serving as a prelude to October's studio release The Violent Sleep of Reason, the project signaled a return to foundational recording methods, with the album tracked live on the studio floor in the manner of their earliest demos. Critics lauded the record for its inventive dismantling of heavy-music conventions, while its complex structures offered a playful commentary on the broader metal landscape and the "djent" sound itself. The album earned a shortlist nomination for IMPALA's Album of the Year Award.

After an opening series of tour dates, Meshuggah announced Thordendal's sabbatical in June 2017; Scar Symmetry's Per Nilsson filled in on the road. In 2018 the band received a U.S. Grammy nomination for the single "Clockworks" in the Best Metal Performance category.

During 2019, Hagström indicated to an interviewer that the group had already begun work on new material. They maintained touring commitments through that summer and into early 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic halted global activity. When the members reconvened in the studio in March 2021, Thordendal had rejoined. The single "The Abysmal Eye" surfaced in January 2022—their first new music in nearly six years—followed in February by "Light the Shortening Fuse" and the 13-track, 66-minute full-length Immutable.