Metal that opens your eyes

Vaughn Fortier-Shultz | Generation: Next

5/7/2008 - 5/8/08

The hatred flows as thick as blood on Swedish metal band Meshuggah's latest album, Obzen. Lyrics from Electric Red say it all, "We're dormant accumulations of flesh in a crimson filtered twilight, mute witnesses to the game, wrenches to keep the bolts of lies tight."

Produced by longtime demonic recording studio Nuclear Blast and recorded at Fear and Loathing studio, even the specs sound menacing. And at 52 minutes and 25 seconds in length, this CD is longer than a lot of the competition on the metal scene.

If you can make out the lyrics over the incredibly tight riffing, you will hear a lot of well disguised anti-government lines that point at us as being nothing more than puppets or tools. If your life has fallen into monotony, then maybe this CD will help open your eyes and change your perspective. And although it may sound like nothing more than scream metal to the unwary listener, a closer ear will reveal beautiful melodies to lullaby you to sleep, courtesy of singer Jens Kidman.

Dick Lovgren, the resident bass player, earns his keep with audible sounds to keep you listening and intrigue your soul. More than once his sound has been used to encourage college students into staying up late to study.

The drums tell a story of their own, no longer simply a percussion instrument solely to keep beat. Tomas Haake uses his sticks to perfectly accentuate and complement the lyrics he wrote, and if you listen closely you might be inspired to take up the drums yourself.

The guitar is where things get interesting. Fredrik Thordendal and Martin Hagstrom teach the listener a lesson in rhythm management with the sounds that coined the band's genre of "Math Metal." Calculated to the nth degree and impossible to duplicate, each separate guitar string is, in their hands, an additional guitar. Their sounds bring to mind Black Sabbath for the dread factor and System of a Down with the speed. Like the final piece of a musical puzzle, the guitars complete Meshuggahh.

A bit different from their previous work (a one-hour song and a rare CD) this new album brings the despair that you hide deep in your soul to the forefront of your vision. While some listeners may need to grab a dictionary for some of the verses (is "Omnicidal" even a word?) this album is definitely one of the must haves for 2008. A winner in my book.

Vaughn Fortier-Shultz is in eighth grade at Academy for Technology and the Classics. You can reach him at moosemanxl@gmail.com