Meshuggah

[Plaid]

For those of you who have not heard of or listened to this band before, I just wanted to mention them. The drummer's name is Tomas Haake, and he's an excellent metal player with a strong fusion influence, but NOT in the way that someone like Donati is. He (and the band) are more about crazy syncopations and weaving in and out of 4/4 (among other signatures), but it is surprisingly musical at the same time. There are many tracks where Tomas follows the guitar riffs with his feet, but keeps the time between the hat and snare, and he has a VERY good pocket. I would recommend listening to tracks from the albums "Nothing", "Chaosphere", or "Destroy, Erase, Improve". All three are actually pretty different, but are all excellent.

[FuseU1]

plaid - i have 3 mp3's of theirs -

[the] exquisite machine
future breed machine
gods of rapture

while i am not exactly heavily into this particular style melodically, harmonically, or vocally speaking; i will say that the drummer is very good at this particular style on these 3 tunes - the band is very "on" rhythmically & is "synchopationally" very tight...4 those of u who liked megadeth or metallica [sorry 4 that particular comparison, plaid [img]wink.gif[/img] ], this band BLOWS them away, IMO ....

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ February 26, 2003 08:21 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

[jonthibault]

If you dig meshuggah, check out my buddy's band at the Whiskey, March 17 (St. Patty's Day) at 9:00. Really sick, heavy stuff. Tons of time changes, etc. You'll love it.

[Plaid]

Fuse, if you get the chance, you should download the following tunes:

1) Perpetual Black Second (check out the drum part behind the guitar solo around 2 1/2 minutes into the tune.....it's in 4 (obviously), but syncopated perfectly....almost a Latin-ish feel.....KILLER riff too!)

2) Spasm (All kinds of over the barline in 4, and a nice little drum break in the middle)

3) Soul Burn (Most fusion influenced that I've heard them do....during the middle/solo section)


Those of you interested in downloading to check Haake out, you need to know that yes, it's aggressive metal, and many people I know just can't get past screaming vocals. I understand this, but you really should check it out, as there are many very interesting and great-to-learn drum parts. Tomas Haake is NOT all about technical fills and lots of rolls....it's all about tight, pocketed, totally interesting rhythms. HIGHLY recommended.

[Vdrummer]

I agree. Meshuggah is the stuff. I've been into them for a while. A buddy in a bagpipe band turned me onto them. Tomas is a killer grooving metal drummer. I love the way he'll play in 11 with his feet following the guitar line and then play 2 and 4 backbeats on top while his feet shift (cyclic displacement) a 1/16th note in every measure until it all comes around again. Very heavy and very cool. There's a sample and loop disk (Drumkit from Hell) that he played on that has a twisted groove I wrote out on it. It's very Dave DiCenso/Danny Carey-ish, with a dotted 1/8th thing shifting on top of a 4/4 groove underneath. Peace, Brad

[Plaid]

benrand, I am familiar with Watchtower, and though Dave was an excellent player, I just couldn't stand listening to them. There are TOO many technical metal bands that aren't musical at all, and I just can't get into them. Meshuggah is the exception.

....and yes, Gene Hoglan is a monster on the set. The new Strapping Young Lad album has great stuff on it.

[DrumDemon]

Thomas and Gene are great metal drummers. You should check out The Dillinger escape plan! They have some crazy tunes,and for all you metal fans check out Origin these guys are sick!

[benrand]

Oh yeah, this band does kick, but I do hate those vox. I dig his snare sound and the crisp crashes he uses.

HOWEVER, there was a band called Watchtower that was out a long time ago that played stuff much like Meshuggah but with WORSE vox, awful singer. Good drummer tho, Dave Colaluca (just like Colaiuta!). I have some mp3's.

And as well, Gene Hoglan kicks ass. I saw him play live and he is a sicko. Jeezis.