History Music / Meshuggah

Meshuggah[[note]]taken from ''meshuga'', the Yiddish and Hebrew word for "crazy"[[/note]] is a Swedish metal band formed in 1987. They are well-known for their signature musical style, which involves [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth lots of chugging]], [[UncommonTime complex, polymetered song structures]], loud, [[EpicRiff savage, bass-heavy riffing]], [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly unusual compositions]] and precise musicianship. Meshuggah has found little mainstream success as yet, but is a significant act in extreme underground music and has received significant critical acclaim.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly[=/=]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.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly[=/=]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]]".

* UncommonTime: Frequently considered the rivals to Music/{{Tool}} 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.

* UncommonTime: Frequently considered the rivals to Music/{{Tool}} 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 drum parts, while the hi-hat is in a slightly different meter.

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Acrid Placidity", "Unanything" and "The Last Vigil". All of them are instrumentals.

** ''Immutable'' - "Past Tense"

* UncommonTime: Frequently considered the rivals to Music/{{Tool}} 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 drum parts.

* AnimatedMusicVideo: "I Am Colossus".
* BaldOfAwesome: Jens Kidman. [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Meshuggah_Kidman2_2008_Prague.jpg/776px-Meshuggah_Kidman2_2008_Prague.jpg Take a look.]]

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: They range from a solid 10 ("Bleed") to a mind-numbing 11 ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy7SlJMWn_s The aptly named "Mayhem" version of Future Breed Machine]]). They occasionally dip down into a hard 9 in some songs, while the likes of "Acrid Placidity" and "The Last Vigil" fall down sharply to 4 and 1 respectively.

* Fredrik Thordendal – lead guitar, backing vocals (1987–present), lead vocals (1987-1992) (has not toured with the band since 2017)

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly[=/=]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 Martin Hagstrom and drummer Tomas Haake are known to prefer the label "[[AvantGardeMetal experimental metal]]".

* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: The band has a fondness for loading their songs with impenetrable jargon.

* StylisticSuck: The music video for "New Millennium Cyanide Christ," a song about a man who sacrifices his humanity to become a [[ClarkesThirdLaw sufficiently advanced cyborg]], and seeks to reshape the whole world in his hellish image, consists of Hagstrom, Thordendal and Hielm air-guitaring, Haake air-drumming, and Kidman lip-synching(badly) into an ink pen, all while wearing ridiculous sunglasses on their tour bus. They reportedly were extremely drunk at the time.

** The "Mr. Kidman Delirium Version" music video for "Rational Gaze" which is just a handicam of Jens Kidman performing as his bandmates, with the help of different wigs, including an afro. The shots focusing on him singing make gratuitous usage of JitterCam too.

** The "Mr. Kidman Delirium Version" music video for "Rational Gaze" which is just a handicam of Jens Kidman performing as his bandmates, with the help of different wigs, including a FunnyAfro. The shots focusing on him singing make gratuitous usage of JitterCam too.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Contradictions Collapse'' and the preceding self-titled EP, both recorded as a four-piece band with Jens Kidman playing rhythm guiar are basically ThrashMetal with some progressive elements, as opposed to the complex and eclectic sound showcased on later works. Also, Jens Kidman's vocals are different, being a raspy half-singing-half-shouting as opposed to the strident roar he's known for. He even [[https://www.caratulas.com/caratulas/M/Meshuggah/Meshuggah-Contradictions_Collapse-Trasera.jpg had hair]]!

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Contradictions Collapse'' and the preceding self-titled EP are basically ThrashMetal with some progressive elements, as opposed to the complex and eclectic sound showcased on later works. Also, Jens Kidman's vocals are different, being a raspy half-singing-half-shouting as opposed to the strident roar he's known for.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Contradictions Collapse'' and the preceding self-titled EP are basically ThrashMetal with some progressive elements, as opposed to the complex and eclectic sound showcased on later works. Also, Jens Kidman's vocals are different, being a slightly raspy shout as opposed to the strident roar he's known for.

* WordSaladLyrics: Their lyrics sound like mad ramblings and contain a lot of jargon that would [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness normally make no sense]] to most listeners.

* WordSaladLyrics: Their lyrics sound like mad ramblings and contain too much jargon that would [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness normally make no sense]] to most listeners.

!!Tropes that apply to Meshuggah:

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: They range from a solid 10 ("Bleed") to a mind-numbing 11 ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy7SlJMWn_s The aptly named "Mayhem" version of Future Breed Machine]]). They occasionally dip down into a hard 9 in some songs.

* CoverVersion: {{Averted|Trope}}; they made a remix for "Benzin" by Music/{{Rammstein}} with completely re-worked drum and guitar parts, completely abandoning the industrial vibe of the original song for dark and slow and downtuned groove metal riffs.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Usually at 10-11. Sometimes crosses into 9 territory. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy7SlJMWn_s The aptly named "Mayhem" version of Future Breed Machine]] may be the hardest song they've ever made, at a very hard 11. This is thanks to the much sludgier feel of the song compared to the original, along with the heavy industrial elements and of course, Jens' constant throat-shredding shrieks.

** Here we must go back to "Ritual", which sounds like sort of UrExample for Main/{{Nu Metal}} because of really Music/{{Korn}}-esque rhythm.
* PissTakeRap: Jens was pretty close to this trope in "Ritual" from "None" EP.

* WordSaladLyrics: They sometime use too much jargon that would [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness normally make no sense]] to most listeners.
* XtremeKoolLetterz: "Rare Trax", compilation album of unreleased songs.

* SerialEscalation: Trying to follow the polyrhythms in many Meshuggah songs is extremely difficult, and gets even more difficult as you go from song to song. There was once an article written in ''Music Theory Spectrum'' magazine which dissected the structure of just the main riff of "Rational Gaze," and the first three minutes of "I." The article was over 20 pages long, and had almost a dozen diagrams.

* UncommonTime: Frequently considered the rivals to Music/{{Tool}} 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 drum parts.

* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: They have written songs with only two or three ''notes''.

* UncommonTime: Frequently considered the rivals to Music/{{Tool}} in taking this trope UpToEleven. 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 drum parts.

* EpicRocking: Plenty of songs, especially more recent ones. ''Catch Thirtythree'' and the ''I'' EP are the longest songs, the former being split into multiple segments

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Acrid Placidity","Unanything" and "The Last Vigil". All of them are instrumentals.

Since its formation, Meshuggah has released seven studio albums, five [=EPs=] and eight music videos. The band has performed in various international festivals, including Ozzfest and Download, and embarked on the ''obZen'' world tour in 2008.

** Here we must go back to "Ritual", which sounds like sort of UrExample for Main/{{NuMetal}} because of really Music/{{Korn}}-esque rhythm.