MESHUGGAH — Chaosphere (review)

Album · 1998 · Progressive Metal

4.5/5 · 2022-04-05
UMUR

"Chaosphere" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish technical thrash/groove metal act Meshuggah. The album was relased through Nuclear Blast Records in October 1998. It´s the successor to "Destroy Erase Improve" from 1995 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Peter Nordin has been replaced by Gustaf Hielm (who himself would depart after the release of "Chaosphere").

Stylistically "Chaosphere" marks a drastic change in direction for Meshuggah. The technical thrash metal of the two preceding studio albums is still an element of the sound on "Chaosphere", but Meshuggah now predominantly focus on odd-metered hypnotic grooves and heavy riffs, alien sounding atmospheric jazz/fusion influenced leads, and raw, aggressive, and monotone vocals (although lead vocalist Jens Kidman still occasionally bears a resemblence to a very pissed off James Hetfield, and therefore sometimes escapes his otherwise relatively one-dimensional delivery). This is anything but a regular thrash metal release. It´s not that the two predecessors are regular sounding thrash metal releases either, but at least they both feature more recognisable thrash metal elements than what is featured on "Chaosphere". In 1998 the sound that Meshuggah presented on "Chaosphere" was a very original new take on technical groove/thrash. A sound which they have since developed upon, and which has influenced legions of other artists. It´s arguably a genre defining release and incredibly unique for its time (it´s interesting to note that another just as groundbreaking extreme metal release in "Obscura" by Gorguts was also released the same year, albeit featuring a very different style and sound).

"Chaosphere" opens with "Concatenation", which is not the most accessible track on the album, but it sets the tone with it´s bleak, brutal, heavy, and odd-metered approach. The highlights of the album are the next four tracks though, as "New Millennium Cyanide Christ", "Corridor of Chameleons", "Neurotica", and "The Mouth Licking What You've Bled", are all perfect examples of the new musical direction of Meshuggah. Gloomy, mechanical, heavy, and groove laden technical metal. "Sane" points a bit backwards towards the sound of "Destroy Erase Improve" (1995), and while it´s certainly a great track, it´s not quite as interesting as the four tracks which came before.

"The Exquisite Machinery of Torture" features Kidman talking/singing and only screaming his lungs out on the chorus part, and I´d put it in the same catagory as "Sane". It´s a great track, but not quite as excellent as the best material on the album. The 15:35 minutes long "Elastic" which closes "Chaosphere", features about 6 minutes of pure technical metal bliss, and then treats the listener to noise and annoying sounds for the remaining minutes (the song does kick in again towards the end, but by that time my patience has been gone for several minutes, and I have turned off the album). Not exactly the ideal way of closing an otherwise almost perfect release. The Japanese version of the album features a very uncharacteristic instrumental bonus track in "Unanything", which is a melodic and beautiful song. I would never have guessed that it was Meshuggah playing if I didn´t know it.

"Chaosphere" features a harsh, sharp, and detailed sound production, which suits the material well. It´s not quite as heavy or brutal sounding as some of their subsequent releases, but the sound suits the music, so no complaints from me. "Chaosphere" is an amazing release on almost all parameters. High level musicianship, professional and well sounding production job, and innovative and effective songwriting, but the closing to the album does drag my rating down just slightly. I can´t give a perfect rating, when the band purposedly chose to torture their audience´s ears with 9 minutes of utter noise. It´s quite frankly disrespectful and should not be rewarded. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is still deserved though for the utter brilliance of the remaining part of the album.