Review Summary: A turning point in Meshuggah's career(and extreme metal), which retains much of its artistic charm even today.
Question: How many extreme metal bands in recent times have had a sound so unique that it is impossible to imitate spiritually?
I know of only one: Meshuggah. And no album crystallizes their tremendous change in sound and approach than Nothing. In fact, this album influenced all extreme metal for years to come, which is how infinitely important it is. On this album, gone are the swift stabs of thrash metal; instead, flattening walls of guitars, brain-twisting grooves, and textural knitting dominate each track. One thing stays the same though: misleading simplicity hiding mathematical complexity.
Right off the bat, slow, churning "Stengah" sets the tone(heh), from close, to deafeningly surrounding. Following this first highlight, classic "Rational Gaze" recalls past albums through jabbing, gritty riffs, ethereal atmopheric leads and biting vocals from Jens. Also the catchiest song on this album, and includes one of the single best guitar solos in the whole of extreme metal, with Fredrik showing off his jazz influences like a boss. "Perpetual Black Second" is my third highlight, with a flowing initial riff, but clunks and clicks into low pounding. Similarly to "Rational Gaze", "Perpetual Black Second" hosts a magnificent, surreal starry solo, zooming through the heavy machines loudly working their clogs under it. Fourth and last highlight for the day, "Spasm" blares like an elephant, slowly marching towards drummer Thomas Haake's intriguing vocal performance, which is very welcome in this album, freshly introducing recitative singing in the most brooding and somber fashion imaginable.
One stick in the wheel, though: "Obsidian". This is the definition of filler, and undoubtedly a most underwhelming closer for such a fantastic run beforehand. "Obsidian"'s structure is uninteresting at best, and the riffs quickly get redundant. However, this is a fragile stick, which is quickly broken by the fact everything else about this album is but a quality. First of all, the no less than mesmerizing production, which adds to the whole's grittiness; top-notch songwriting; excellent performance/execution, ranging from crushing, memorable guitars, to surreal perfectly incorporated leads, to howling vocals, to technical, precise drums; insightful, brainy lyrics topping the already mechanical and mathematical rhythms; and just a ***ing amazing album in general.
Fav tracks: Stengah, Rational Gaze, Perpetual Black Second
Least fav track: Obsidian
