Metal Reviews

Which Meshuggah albums are their best work? Also, which version of Nothing is better? I have heard mixed things about the re-release and am thinking of going with the original.

Catch33 > Destroy Erase Improve > Contradiction's Collapse > Chaosphere > Nothing imo

Catch33 is just the coolest thing ever... DEI/CC have awesome riffage... Chaosphere and Nothing have pretty boring riffs that don't really go anywhere.

Destroy Erase Improve is probably the best place to start.

Chaosphere is their most aggressive work, but takes a real long time before the songs start to sink in.

I've always liked Chaosphere the most, though Destroy Erase Improve is really growing on me.

I'd say the "I" EP is the best place to start

but that might be because it's where I started

catch 33 is amazing... an album it took me a while to get into though

Nothing

Yes way, it's slower than their other stuff and much sparser, and the riffs are monumental.

I love how that album sounds so monotonous at first, but it's really progressive as fuck.

Destroy Erase Improve, definetely.
It's the easiest to get into by far but still the best one they have made.
Future Breed Machine=pwnZ

Looks like they are all great records . I am thinking of getting Destroy Erase Improve, Catch 33, and Nothing as they all are very different from eachother and cover a wide spectrum.

So which version of Nothing is best? Original or remaster?

I have the original, and it sounds very organic and awesome. I heard a song from the remaster and I didn't like it too much. It was too clean for that kind of music.

I haven't heard the re-recording, but I think the main difference is that they re-recorded it with their new guitars (forget how many strings) that they used on Catch 33.

On a side note, I was just wondering, with Catch 33, is it just one song broken up into 13 parts, or is it 2 or 3 songs?

Well I just bought both DEI and the original Nothing. From what I heard, the differences between both the remaster and the original is the remaster has 8 string guitars, filtered vocals, and the drumming is done by a machine and is more quiet and less impressive. The guitars are more crisp in the remaster though.

Yeah the Nothing re-issue was recorded with 8 string guitars instead of downtuned 7 string guitars, and they tinkered with the drum sound a bit. Personally I don't really think it matters... the reissue has slightly bigger/fuller guitar sound but otherwise isn't all that difference.

From what I've read Catch33 is one big song.

They're all different, and all good. Start at the beginning, work chronologically:

Contradictions Collapse - Jazz-Thrash. Awesome.
Destroy, Erase, Improve - Industrial Death Metal. Awesome.
Chaosphere - Heavy-as-fuck Death/Grind. Awesome.
Nothing - Spaced-out groove metal. Awesome.
I - Mix of the above. Good, but more fan-directed, I'd say.
Catch 33 - Spaced-out groove metal with ambient bits. Awesome.

All grow on you as you listen, esp. the last four. The True Human Design EP is worth a listen as well, a great slowed-down version of Future Breed Machine plus an acoustic version being the highlights.

I agree, Catch 33 is fucking awesome. Did you see the Shed video? Fucking far out.

what about rare trax? are all the TRAX on that like War, which fucking rules? if so, i have to get my hands on it!

Amazing how much I've been getting into these guys lately, through Chaosphere - when I first listened to it, I couldn't even BEGIN to describe its suckage, so horrible it sounded. Now I listen to it all the time. Hey, I've always believed in best albums being "grow on you"-type of albums, but not that you could downright love something you intially downright hated.

Chaosphere's a right headfuck the first few listens, especially the last song. I still can't listen to that without skipping bits.

Must be talking about that loooooong-ass... whatever it is... in Elastic? I can easily listen to that all the way through. Of course, this is coming from a guy who can listen to 60 minute songs with no problem at all.

As for their best album, I would have to say Destroy, Erase, Improve.