History Music / Meshuggah

** ''Catch Thirtythree'' - "Mind's Mirrors", the second half of "In Death/Is Death", the end of "Sum"

* GenreBusting: Aside from just "metal", the band's genre causes quite a lot of confusion. DeathMetal? ThrashMetal? GrooveMetal? ProgressiveMetal? Djent? They've also been referred to as "math metal" and even "{{avant garde metal}}". Guitarist Mårten Hagström and drummer Tomas Haake are known to prefer the label "[[AvantGardeMetal experimental metal]]", and referring to them as anything but will sure provoke strange reactions from the fanbase. They were even listed as nu metal on Metal Archives for several years because nobody could figure out what to call them.

* GenreBusting: Aside from just "metal", the band's genre causes quite a lot of confusion. DeathMetal? ThrashMetal? GrooveMetal? ProgressiveMetal? Djent? They've also been referred to as "math metal" and even "{{avant garde metal}}". Guitarist Mårten Hagström and drummer Tomas Haake are known to prefer the label "[[AvantGardeMetal experimental metal]]", and referring to them as anything but will sure provoke strange reactions from the fanbase.

* LongRunnerLineUp: The studio line-up has been the same since 2004. Frederik Thordendal stopped touring with them in 2017 but will still appear on their albums.

** In general, the band has an affinity with including bald, humanoid figures in their branding and album art; as seen on the cover art of ''The Violent Sleep of Reason'' and ''Immutable''. ''Rare Trax'' has a closeup shot of Jens Kidman's face instead.

* UncommonTime: Frequently considered the rivals to Music/{{Tool}}[[note]]who themselves draw inspiration from Meshuggah[[/note]] in taking this trope UpToEleven, but arguably subverted or ([[RunningGag again]]) ZigZagged. According to Hagström, they're not that big on odd time signatures. Almost all of their music is based on a 4/4 centre, no matter how far out the rhythms wander; "Dancers to a Discordant System" was written in 6/8 and "Spasm" is in 7/4. That being said, they are no doubt masters of polyrhythms; [[http://www.scribd.com/doc/6375990/Re-casting-Metal-Rhythm-and-Meter-in-the-Music-of-Meshuggah this article]] barely scratches the surface. Most of the odd feeling of their songs comes from their unique style: all the guitar and bass is played in rhythm with the kick drum, while the hi-hat is in a slightly different, more conventional meter.

* HeroicRROD: Tomas Haake. Considered a near-rival to Music/YoshikiHayashi of Music/XJapan when it comes to [[AllDrummersAreAnimals extreme, manic and relentless drumming]], as he would often put his drumming abilities to the test when recording and in live performances. Several of his noteworthy efforts include "Bleed" from ''obZen'' and the more recent "The Demon's Name is Surveillance" and "The Hurt That Finds You First" from ''Koloss''.

* MetalScream: Jens' vocals are usually strained, very pissed-off Type 1 screams, though he also ha s a very high affinity for very loud and [[IncrediblyLongNote incredibly long]] Type 3 shrieks.

* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: They have written songs with only two or three ''notes''. ZigZagged, though, because what they lack in complexity of melody, they make up for in complexity of ''rhythm'' - see UncommonTime below. They've still got a handful of pretty melodic stuff though, the strongest examples are "Dancers to a Discordant System" and the second half of "Straws Pulled at Random".

* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: They have written songs with only two or three ''notes''. ZigZagged, though, because what they lack in complexity of melody, they make up for in complexity of ''rhythm'' - see UncommonTime below.

** The band has an affinity with bald, humanoid figures in their branding and album art; as seen on the cover art of ''The Violent Sleep of Reason'' and ''Immutable''. ''Rare Trax'' has a closeup shot of Jens Kidman's face instead.