MESHUGGAH - Immutable
Down the Rabbit Hole Once Again…
Written by: Tom Wilson @thetomwilsonexperiment - Sense Music Media | Saturday 05 March 2022
I once described MESHUGGAH’s music as the sound of a well-oiled machine having a spanner thrown into the works and slowly tearing itself apart, and that metaphor seems apt given that the opener of this, their ninth album, is called Broken Cog. A brutally staccato rhythm slowly pounds away, guitars plinking behind the chaos, setting the tone for Jens Kidman’s raspy whisper. Calling to mind tracks like Shed or Pitch Black, the rhythm starts to spiral, disconcerting and unhurried, and after four minutes of build-up, the screams begin …
First single The Abysmal Eye is, simply put, peak latter-day MESHUGGAH, and when Jens bellows “relentless … and inexorable / this menacing creation” he could easily be referring to the band itself. Light the Shortening Fuse is as subtle as a jackhammer, and trying to keep track of the rhythms is like trying to build a house of cards on the deck of a ship during a storm. Bassist Dick Lövgren shines on Phantoms, and his work with Tomas is bewilderingly unhinged – calling to mind Pineal Gland Optics from obZen. The back end of this track showcases one of the coolest grooves MESHUGGAH has ever conceived, and they’re nice enough not to rush it. It probably goes without saying at this point, but it’s heavy enough to level a building.
The shrill, disconcerting notes that open Ligature Marks will be immediately familiar, as they were used to tease the album in the early days. That intro sets the tone perfectly, as Haake’s drumming sets off on a purposeful march. God He Sees in Mirrors is a Koloss-style pummelling, with a classic Fredrik freakout that wouldn’t have been out of place on Chaosphere.
At almost ten minutes, They Move Below is Immutable’s epic. A dreamy Catch Thirty-Three soundscape slowly unfurls over two-and-a-half minutes, before the hammer comes crashing down into a Nothing-era ground-and-pound – subterranean-low rhythms thumping beneath dizzying guitar. Now in their fifties, MESHUGGAH are in no hurry here, and Jens steps back to let the music do the talking. His return on Kaleidoscope sees his atonal bark stretch out over their signature polyrhythmic insanity and another chaotic burst of soloing.
The biggest curveball on the album, Black Cathedral is a two-minute session of black metal shredding, and the icy, fuzzed-out riffage will have you anticipating a blast beat that never comes. I am that Thirst brings us back to familiar territory, with a mid-paced Nothing-style rhythm churning away under soaring leads. On The Faultless, Jens’ rasp flicks back and forth between audio channels, surrounding you, enveloping you. Comedian Bill Burr once described MESHUGGAH as the musical equivalent of hearing voices, and that seems especially appropriate here. If I ever hear voices in my head, I hope they don’t sound like Jens. I can only imagine how disconcerting this song would be if you were under the influence, particularly later in the track when his voice drops down to an almost Gregorian chant.
Armies of the Preposterous is a freefall into a dark vortex where no light escapes. Like the people in the video for The Abysmal Eye, inexorably drawn across the desert to fling themselves into a chasm, we are tumbling down a rabbit hole into the Swede’s dark imagination. After twelve tracks that will leave you exhausted and bruised, Past Tense closes the album with slow, off-kilter chords which reverb like ripples on a dark pond, once again calling to mind their 2005 opus Catch Thirty-Three. It stretches out, fading into the inky, obsidian black.
The Verdict
Immutable continues the sonic path established by the band with 2012’s Koloss. The production is dense, claustrophobic. The fuzzed-out, hazy nature of the text on the album artwork – at odds with the Magic Eye-style Photoshop wizardry of their older albums – seems reflective of the mix here. While it lacks the surprise impact that obZen benefitted from [remember the first time you heard Bleed? We do.], Immutable represents a band remaining firmly at the top of the heap, one that has grown higher and higher over the last two decades, as their already considerable influence spreads even further through contemporary metal.
Immutable is a discombobulating attack that will disrupt you on a cellular level. It is frighteningly, exhilaratingly heavy. Behold the schism of the rhythm.
8.5/10
Immutable is out April 1st on Atomic Fire.
MESHUGGAH L-R: Mårten Hagström, Tomas Haake, Jens Kidman, Fredrik Thordendal + Dick Lövgren
