No mention of Nothing would be complete without "Spasm". Coming out of left field with the lowest frequencies their strings of steel have ever unleashed, massaging the inside of your skull; Tomas's robotic, almost seductive sounding vocals; the steady peal of high palm-muted notes sounding like a Sega Genesis serenading a lover at Carnegie Hall. It's strangely beautiful, hypnotic, even serene...then the final measures unexpectedly shift in pitch, the elements now dissonant and clashing; a not-so-gentle reminder that this is still fucking Meshuggah you're listening to.
The album Catch Thirtythree. The whole thing. 13 tracks. 45 minutes. One song. Pure awesome. Special mentions to certain tracks on it are:
When the rhythm guitars come back in during "The Paradoxical Spiral". Pure groove/doom evilness.
The guitar solo in "Entrapment". While not a super technical solo, it just manages to sound so completely alien that it pushes it into deliberately creepy territory. Also that bend at the end of the song.
"Mind's Mirrors." The pitch shifted, robotic sounding vocals manage to sound both beautiful yet ominous at the same time, the lyrics are incredibly trippy, and the outro leading up to the next track is great.
"In Death - Is Death", which is just... awesome.
Finally, "Sum". Everything from 1:00 on is perfect. Especially Jens' screams.
What makes "New Millennium Cyanide Christ" so awesome is the use of Uncommon Time throughout the song. The entire song shifts a lot between time signatures, but it gives still the listener an illusion that the song is written in Common Time. And not to mention... THAT KICK-ASS RIFF! There's actually some debate among fans about what time signature most of their music is in, and this song in particular is a point of contention. The band says 4/4 for most songs, but many fans interpret it as being in Uncommon Time. Due to how musical polymeters work, everyone may well be technically correct.
"I". All twenty-one minutes of it. This could be thought of as Catch Thirtythree's little brother, but by no means should it be dismissed as a lesser work; it is every bit as intense and rewarding. If the scream at around one minute into the song doesn't get you all pumped up, you simply don't like extreme metal.
ObZen is the band's most popular album, and for good reason. Meshuggah was able to merge the styles of all their previous albums into one, and somehow push it even further. It's got groove, energy, emotion, and complexity wound together into something extremely unique and near-indescribable. Not to mention great lyrical themes throughout.
The opening track, "Combustion", kickstarts the album in a masterfully epic fashion, featuring a memorable power riff that straddles the line between thrash and groove, a funky bassline courtesy of Dick Lovgren, Jens Kidman's strident roars, and Tomas Haake pounding on those drums like a man possessed. It's a fucking insane song that manages to be innovative, while also serving as a Call-Back to the band's post-thrash roots.
"Bleed" is one of the most recognizable Meshuggah songs thanks to Tomas Haake's insane drumming. It's a feat of endurance and an achievement in metal percussion.
"Pravus", the penultimate song of the album, is a furious-sounding track. The live version has Jens Kidman belting out an insane scream.
Meshuggah's live performances in general - best summarized in these concert albums Alive and The Ophidian Trek tend to be very tight and consistent with the songs they play while sonically make them punchier, louder and better.
"They Move Below" from Immutable. It's not common for Meshuggah to make a full-blown metal instrumental track and they surely nailed it.
. Coming out of left field with the lowest frequencies their strings of steel have ever unleashed, massaging the inside of your skull; Tomas's robotic, almost seductive sounding vocals; the steady peal of high palm-muted notes sounding like a Sega Genesis serenading a lover at Carnegie Hall. It's strangely beautiful, hypnotic, even serene...then the final measures unexpectedly shift in pitch, the elements now dissonant and clashing; a not-so-gentle reminder that this is still fucking Meshuggah you're listening to.