This.

Out of the list it has to be Symbolic. 

Reason: It's the only one I've heard.

From the list above I choose None so Vile, even though it's not my favourite album by this band. 

I need to get into Death a little bit more to form a final opinion... but it won't top NsV anyway. 

 

...I think they fit the description extreme metal pretty well.

 

Indeed.

 

 

'nuff said!

Not really.

And therein lies the problem.  A subgenre should not be determined by one feature and especially should not be defined by what it sounds like but rather the playing style.  Besides, Jens' vox is more akin to hardcore punk, and we don't see people calling that extreme metal.

 

Btw, I agree with TIme Signature's opinion above.

Time Signature wrote: I guess it depends on the degree of purism/elitism one adopts. There is also a historical dimension that could be taken into account. A lot of bands that do not sound extreme today, were considered to be really extreme back in the day, and I am sure this applies to the likes of Meshuggah in the 90s, just like Celtic Frost and Venom were insanely extreme in the 80s. Personally, I don't give a fuck what other people try to force down my throat in terms of what should or should not be considered extreme. If I consider something extreme, then I consider it extreme regardless of what the purists, elitists, mainstreamers, mallcore kids or anyone else says. But I do respect the opinions of other people, so, if somebody considers Meshuggah to be an extreme metal band, although I do not (which I actually don't), I don't see any reason to start lecturing them on what they should consider extreme or not. I mean, why should I force my views down their throat?

I checked twice and I couldn't find anyone lecturing anybody in this thread. Meshuggah IS an extreme metal band from an objective point of view, I can't see why we don't have an agreement about something so obvious. Compared to the majority of metal bands, Meshuggah ends up in the end of the "extreme" spectrum. There are actually bands less heavy than Meshuggah yet still considered to be extreme (e.g. all death and black metal bands). I mean it may sound less extreme than, I don't know, De Magia Veterum or DO. But remember guys, Iron Maiden is metal too so... I hope you know what I mean. It's not a discussion about tastes or personal opinions, I don't want to lecture anyone. It's just about practical use and dictionary meaning of the word "extreme".

Well, obviously you speak the truth, I admit that I myself adopted kind of lecturing tone. Our disagreement comes from different understandings of the use and purpose of the word, I guess. For me, the word extreme is here to facilitate differentiation between genres, especially for someone who's not familiar with them. For me, genres were made up  in order to make finding similar bands easier. So when someone who listens only to bands like Iron Maiden asks me if Meshuggah is metal too, I obviously say yes, but I add that it's extreme. And yes, for someone like us, who listen to the most extreme of extremes, Meshuggah may seem almost mellow (: and therefore from our subjective point of view it is not extreme.

And yes, I know that it depends on so many factors, that making it clear and unambiguous is impossible (hey I'm a linguist too [just a bachelor though] ! ) I just think that there's a reason behind the fact  that everywhere you look (wikipedia, prog archives etc.) Meshuggah are tagged "extreme metal".