After suffering through six so-called "metal" bands during the previous 28 hours, I needed a dose of real metal more than the junkies across the street from my house need their methadone. Fortunately Meshuggah hit Slims' stage at precisely 10:26PM tonight, and proceeded to give me a fix of some of the most brutal metal I have witnessed in quite some time, and aside from "Holy Fucking Shit"………. I was left speechless.
With the duel eight string guitar assault of Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, Meshuggah created a sound that, although was as heavy as fuck, was built on layers upon layers of sound. These guys are two of the most talented guitarists in metal, and along with five-string bassist Dick Lövgren, they created a metal soundscape that just totally floored me. The vocals of Jens Kidman were totally brutal, and as he screamed out "Combustion," which is in a way the band’s tribute to early Bay Area thrash, all I could do was stand there and watch in total awe. Kidman didn't pander to the sold-out crowd at all, and aside from acknowledging that they were in San Francisco, he hardly said a word between songs and just let the music do the talking.
There wasn't a split second of lull in the set, but if I had to pick high points they would have to be "Rational Gaze," "Lethargica," and of course "Bleed," which, with the mind-blowing drumming of Tomas Haake, was one of the heaviest songs I have ever heard live. It was 90 minutes of pure metal Armageddon, and by the time it was over, I thought to myself that this may very well top my 2009 list for show of the year.
Artist:
www.meshuggah.net
Album:
Meshuggah – Obzen – [Buy it now on Amazon.com]
