Riff Analysis 032 - Meshuggah "Mind's Mirrors"
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
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Guy Capuzzo's article: academic.oup.c...
Eric Smialek's Master's Thesis:
Smialek, Eric. 2008. “Re-Thinking Metal Aesthetics: Complexity, Authenticity, and Audience in Meshuggah’s I and Catch 33.” Masters Thesis, Montreal: McGill University.
Thanks as always for watching!
|m|
About lyrics: I always dive in the music first. Then, if I really like the music, I read the lyrics. To me lyrics aren't a 'make or break thing', but if the lyrics manage to extend the world created by the music it's great.
my thoughs exactly
Well said!
The way words phonetically sound, especially in regards to harsh vocals, mean the most to me. If you say something amazing but the words sound grating in the context of the song, it falls apart for me. I do love great lyrics but are not my personal core.
For me, lyrics have always been what sets a band apart. They aren't what will initially pull me in, but they make a good band an incredible one, or a great album a masterpiece
Lol’d at the robot pic during the spoken word section. Thought that was cute. A few things come to mind watching this video. First off, as others have said, lyrics can seriously make or break a song. I don’t find myself looking up lyrics quite as often as I did in my teens, but I do spend more time looking into the history of the bands I listen to, and by reading about the members of the bands I listen to, I can sometimes accurately imagine what their lyrical content is like. You can even sometimes guesstimate the lyrical content of bands by the music they play. If a slam band puts out a new song, I don’t have to look up the lyrics. Chances are, they’re not going to shock me with something profound - they also pretty much tell you exactly what the song is about in the song title. I love Dance Gavin Dance and you can pretty safely assume that Tillian’s lyrics are about being hot or missing a girl or something. I think how much i feel called to engage with the music also plays a part in how much I care about knowing all the lyrics. When I was in middle school I was looking up all the lyrics to Mars Volta songs because I was enamored by the sound, and the lyrics that you can make out had me going “what the fuck is this dude talking about?” As others have said, good lyrics can elevate a band’s status in my mind, and tasteless lyrics can permanently change the way I perceive their music and the purpose of their music.
To add something to the question of why they would name the album Catch Thirtythree; I googled “numerological significance of 3” and got this: “The numerology number 3 is about creative expression. The essence of the energy the number 3 represents is creative self-expression for others to observe and appreciate. It is especially adept with visual and auditory artistic expression.” Whereas googling “numerological significance of 2” got me this: “The numerology number 2 is all about relationships. Teamwork, pulling together, companionship, romance, diplomacy, cooperation - all are in the number 2's realm.”
Do what you will with these interpretations, reader beware, but the symbology of 3 representing unity is as old as dirt. Heaven, earth, hell. The son, the father, the Holy Spirit. These metaphors are also paradoxical in nature, and I believe (at least somewhat) inspire the philosophical concepts explored on this record. Even the music itself is able to illustrate these ideas - the entire album kind of sounds like one riff written in a ton of slightly different ways. There are no choruses. You could argue that there aren’t even really “verses” either. The music simply “Is.”
Huh I guess we don't see lyrics the same way. If they're easily intelligible and they absolutely sick then I care (modern radio butt rock) but otherwise I could care less about lyrics. Maybe cuz most of the music I listen to the lyrics are either to cryptic to pull a relatable meaning from or just unintelligible. However I was always interested in Cedric lyrics because of their crypticness but hated dgd for the opposite reason.
@@boarderking133 Even butt rock I've come to love. I've come full circle and reached the beginning of the sincerity -> disregarding -> ironic enjoyment -> sincerity ouroboros with bands like linkin park, nickelback, bullet for my valentine, etc.
I always thought the use of 33 was kind of their way of saying "like a catch 22 but bigger" if that makes any sense. A play on words but also an allusion to the more broad and existential themes of the album. How every facet of life as we know it and maybe even the nature of existence itself is paradoxical.
We're all monkeys on a rock, your consciousness and your meaning are illusions
He goes balls deep and then says "I scratched the surface.." , can't recommend this channel enough
Haha thank you!
Jens screaming hits so hard it rivals the rest of the instruments. And to have that screaming filled with intelligent lyrical meaning brings deep contemplation.
Awesome video, I really like your channel.
At 3:45 that last riff from Disenchantment I do believe is actually an octave F to F. It's the resolution of the harmony so to speak of the riffs up to that point which have used E and F# as high notes but never F.
The vocals in Mind's Mirror I think use the same chord progression as the guitar outro that ends the album.
Shoot you're right, good catch! Had to double check and I played it right in my first Catch 33 video but misremembered and misheard when I was making this, oops! And I didn't notice that link to "Sum," I'll keep that in mind when I get there in this series. Thanks!
Yeah the ending of sum(clean part) is the same melody as the vocals in minds mirror.
Great catch! I noticed this as well.
The robotic vocals on Mind's Mirrors have always been my favorite part on the entire album
Again, great video. About the number 33, in an old interview (Swedish mag) they explained that 33 was a referrence to the length of a proper full-length LP, according to industry standards, everything below is technically an EP. After they released "Nothing" they wanted to release "I" on another label (in this case, Fractured Transmitter Records) because, in their eyes, "Rare Trax" was a "proper" full album. Nuclear Blast thought otherwise and said that contract meant (said?) "proper full album with newly written/recorded material", which then brings us to the then-unnamed Catch 33 project. So Meshuggah had this started idea of a long concept album on paradoxes and whatnot (actually commenced before "I") but suddenly found their record label (who weren't treating them really well at the time) demanding another album. They were in a spot wanting to make music but at the same time not (for Nuclear Blast). Knowing this, the line "The struggle to free myself from restraints, becomes my very shackles" becomes much more obvious. The process of reluctantly fulfilling a record deal you don't agree with. The recording to freedom, binds you to the current bad situation.
That's awesome, didn't know this backstory at all, thanks for sharing!
I think they called it Catch-33 because it's a catch-22 bumped up to 11!
Haha love that
The robot absolutely ended me at 2:00 🤣🤣 i laughed so much, thank you
So glad to see someone else loves Meshuggah and intronaut this much. ✨💎💪
Please never stop making deep dive videos on Meshuggah. My favorite metal band and a huge inspiration not only to me but for 2 decades after. 8 strings = life!
Answering your question from the footnotes: I think metal bands need to earn my interest in their lyrics. If the music slaps I'm more willing to dive into what they're getting at lyrically.
I share that opinion. Especially when you can't usually understand them first pass anyways.
Great way of putting it!
Welcome back, good sir.
Amazing. I met Eric Smialek online back when he was undergrad.
Oh sweet!
Theory is new to me....just learned this year and play every chance I get and record it on RUclips 🤘
Hell yeah👍🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
Yo, I've never been this early on one of your vids. I'm excited for this one!
I've always considered Mind's Mirrors to be a pivotal moment of the album.
I've never tried to analyze it though ; the fact that it entirely consists minor/major 2nds (and their respective inversions) is really cool!
I, too, have that shirt. Got the artwork flag as well, and got Alex to sign my vinyl just before the pandemic! More Intronaut please! 😉
The feeding frenzy of my starving soul
Gnawing voraciously at the bones
Another awesome video robut 🤘
I always thought the 33 represents their writing style and how most of their longer rhythm sections end after 32 bars
Ooh that's interesting, hadn't thought of that
Love your vids
Well explained 😀
This is soooo interesting, love it 🖤
with metal and other high energy or hypermelodic genres I often don't even notice that the vocal track is saying words, it's just another instrument until I decide to specifically investigate. more poppy and folksy stuff I tend to listen better to the words if only because there's less competing for my attention
Again I feel compelled to compliment you on your light setup
The robot chorus part is amazing on this album
Oh wow, I would love a to see a tab of 10:50 if you've got one lying around, even if its just the chords and accent notes.
Such an under appreciated channel!!!
Just a comment for the algorithm. Great Video as always.
1:35 i forgive you for explaining how something works in an educational video lol
Lyrics for me tend to be based on how easy they are to hear. Stuff in the Sikth/Protest the Hero end of things tends to catch my ear (and thus, my interest) more so than stuff that’s primarily death growls - which is harder for me to hear/understand.
The url of this video has KEY in it
That "meaning creating machine," bit reminds me of psychedelics, I remember reading in "How To Change Your Mind," by Michael Poland that they had been described as "meaning manifesting."
this whole album and a good chunk of meshuggah's catalogue (and the excellent special defects album) are super inspired by psychedelic experiences. To me they perfectly capture the scarier aspects of things like dmt, the feeling of losing your ego and dissolving into the void.
@@Kerosian1 100% agree, this album definitely was one of their first to lean into that, their video for clockworks was almost a direct nod to DMT visuals. I know Haake is also vocal about his use of mushrooms.
great video,I'm very hyped for the next episode 💥
I never really listen to lyrics a whole lot. Very rarely I would be curious what the lyrics are saying in a song. I only put the vocalists as "another instrument" of the band. The only reason I ever look up the lyrics is so I could sing along and try to do a one man acapella of every instrument at once.
When your still trying to figure out in death is death
Great content! Can you do clockworks and I am collosus
Thanks! I've got a little thing about the bridge breakdown of Clockworks in my Intro to Meshuggah video, and an analysis of the first riff of I Am Colossus in my first Metal Music Studies article, but they're both great songs that I should probably do full videos about! Gotta finish the series on Catch 33 before I do other Meshuggah songs though lol so it will be a bit
Great video! It’s been a while since I listened to this song!
I wouldn’t doubt that meshuggah dabbles in some form atonal structure wether it’s 12 tone row or set class theory. I haven’t really dabbled to much in set class theory but it’s pretty badass and the contrains definitely open doors to explore harmony that traditional or modal harmony doesn’t offer.
Yeah I don't think I've found any rows in their music, but they do definitely tend to shape riffs and songs around a couple interval classes pretty often I think. Daniel Crawford has spent a lot more time on their harmony than I have and he has a cool series of videos about their note choice
I think 33 is Fredrik's lucky number. That's why.
Meshugga is one of those bands where long after they are gone people will talk about the music almost in a mystical fashion. Something about the dissection of the music makes it more confusing. Maybe it's just me, these videos are infact fantastic.
Dude, I have subscribed.
So am a noob at 53.
Play bass
Just getting into DAW, audio digital interface and deciphering Meshuggah and put my take on it.
You n yogev r the only guys and a few rare, know Meshuggah inside out.
My request is to show us Meshuggah for noobs.
So please take any scale.. minor, phrygian, diminished in any key and do a meshuggah using it... Please
I kinda tune out of lyrics, but I'll go read them if I like the track or think there's something interesting to find there- ie a concept album
Lyrics are the last thing I get into. I’m into the riffs and the drums, and how they work together, but the style of vocals can easily turn me off of even listening all the way through. Some metal singers just hit my ears in a way I can’t really explain, but I just can’t get past it and I’ll turn it off almost instantaneously. On the flip side, many times I will actually have listened to a song for so long that I have history with it, whether that is playing it on guitar, or life events have happened with it. When I actually sit down to read along and experience the lyrics, after knowing the music, it often results in a quite cathartic experience.
Lyrics can really make or break a song, but the most important part about lyrics is how fitting they sound, you could be singing totally random nonsense as long as it fits the mood of the moment and it'll elevate the song or you could be singing really profound shit that's out of place and ruin the whole song. Managing to both fit the song and be profound is something most bands can't do and it's always cringy as hell when it doesn't work out.
Been listening to a lot of instrumental music because of it, letting the listener paint the picture of the song instead of crafting a narrative yourself can be very powerful. It does require the listener to actively think about the sounds they're hearing though so maybe it's a less foolproof way to convey emotion.
For the first part, your guitar is tuned an octave higher than it is in the original song.
Your light strip fell down homie.
I do follow lyrics on occasion. But mostly I dont. I did read quite a few of Deathspell Omegas lyrics and the fake outrage about their latest album made me read the lyrics there even sooner (and laugh). That is not to say I dont have some favourite lines in metal lyrics, but I dont obsess about it too much.
Dependent on genre I think lyrics are very important and can absolutely destroy a song if they are shit. The value of lyrics in a composition i think is too oft overlooked, and the way they can interplay with the melody, rhythm and harmony i feel is the mark that seperates good vocal writing and amazing vocal writing.
More dissonant bm/dm 🙏
Got a mix of stuff coming up including some of that dissonant stuff!
(I paused on the footnote)
Lyrics in metal are secondary for me if they're screamed or sung without much articulation such that they can be ignored. I'll usually look them up if it seems there's an overall message to the song. I'm regularly disappointed in metal lyrics because they're often an afterthought or eye-rollingly try-hard. When there's some legit poetry at play or when they're engagingly cryptic, it palpably increases the quality of the piece for me. Conversely, if they're bad, it winds up soiling my enjoyment somewhat so I kinda tread with caution. I've kinda been burned on a handful of bands that have fantastic instrumentals and technical abilities but their lyrics are so bad they make the instrumental sound silly as a backdrop.
Some of my favorite metal lyricists are Jacob Bannon from Converge, John Baizley from Baroness, and Mike Scheidt of YOB.
@Arwo Männikkö i don't mind if there's meaning or not, it's just what will make me curious to check the lyrics out on occasion. I agree with your sentiment, though
Check out Silent Planet! Epitome of metal lyrics for me.
I agree completely! I originally had a list of reasons why I didn't usually pay attention to the lyrics, and having that experience of looking up lyrics and having them ruin the song was one of them
You might get something out of my last full length.. no self promo, it's not a palatable project.. and doesn't really want the attention. But a theory nerd would notice alot.. I hope... with timings, composition etc