It's all polymeters in standard 4/4 signature. Once your brain begins to hear the elusive 4/4 pulse, the groove suddenly sounds like it weighs 10 tons.
Meshuggah members have often mentioned Rush as one of their influences. Hagström said on one interview that Rush's Alex Lifeson was a huge influence in terms of rhythm playing.
This was the track that really cemented them as one of my all time favorite bands. The chaos, the groove and the perfect solo to finish it off! They have so much range. I'd also love to hear what you think about The Contortionist, they are a unique flavor of prog metal that I haven't really heard replicated yet. Tracks like Language I and II or Thrive are amazing experiences.
I'm familiar with The Contortionist, though not deeply so. Actually saw half of a live set by them opening for Devin Townsend along with Haken. (Had to arrive late to the show.) I really like them, but just haven't quite found the time to do a deep-dive.
@@BleedingEdgeProg yeah i remember when i first started listening to Meshuggah. i put straws pulled at random on the shelf at first... once i listened to A LOT of Meshuggah and understood their style it all clicked and nearly every song that i once thought was "meh" , i went back to and was blown away. the other thing is its all able to be followed in 4/4 feel. nothing is random. its all extremely strict rhythmically unlike most other bands that all sound the same and are just competing to see who sounds like they are projectile vomiting the best! this is masterclass musicianship so it does require a long respectful listen to actually grasp as its so syncopated and so unique ( or better as id say) yep im an elitist but at least i dont listen to lorna shore!
@@boomerwithatumor4624 LOL! Fair enough. Thanks for the insights! Seems the consistent feedback I get is that these guys take a good bit of listening to fully grasp.
Came here to make this comment, you sort of have to break your brain to their style - then once you understand Jens place in the musical structure, his performance becomes really impressive, despite delivering a bit of a monotone (on purpose, to accent the percussive role)
@@magusmelanie828 It's definitely a paradigm shift for me, as I come from the old school when it comes to vocals. How much I'll eventually come to embrace them remains to be seen. Worth noting that I am definitely a fan of some harsh vocalists (Mikael Akerfeldt, Tatiana Shmayluk) and the use of harsh vocals in some songs. That's just to say that there's hope for me, yet! LOL
It's not a surprise you would mention ambience when listening to this song because Meshuggah _does_ have an ambient side! There is a good chunk of their discography contains ambience in the tracks. A couple of notable tracks with ambience are the intro of They Move Below and the outro of Stifled. 99.9% of them are written by the rhythm guitarist Marten Hagstrom. In fact, he wrote Straws Pulled At Random and did the solo too!
Nice! I would certainly say that makes sense given his reported love for Lerxst. I recall reading back in the late 80's about Alex using his guitar more for adding texture and ambience to Rush songs more than he had in their earlier days. Seems Hagstrom is reflecting that influence, there.
To shed some light, the re-release of Nothing features 8 string guitars (7 strings on the original), live drums (triggered drums on the original), and a full remixing. The original album was mixed over two days and a bit rushed because the band received a short turnaround offer to join a big national tour in the US. The original is punchier and a very raw mix, it’s a point of debate among fans as to which they prefer.
you say you don't headbang but your comment " enough to encourage headbanging" tells me that you are intuitively feeling the "pulse" of their grooves. You may find yourself in the future headbanging by surprise because of their sick riffs lmao.
LOL! It might happen. Generally, when I'm focused on analyzing a new song while reading the lyrics, my mind is too occupied to get into headbanging, usually. If I do, though, it'll be comparatively subtle.
Nearly all their music is just 4/4. I think they have like two or three riffs total that aren't. Their use of polymeters and polyrhythms give it that weird cycling behaviour. But it's always got the 4/4 backbone in there to headbang to.
@@BleedingEdgeProgoriginal got the better drums in my opinion, ghost notes and stuff. Vocals are better in the original too I think. Overall sound picture is much greasier and groovier
@@evankeen1245 Someone has remade the songs with the guitar from the remaster, but the rest of the instruments from the original. I like them a lot! ruclips.net/video/xVdvNurXev0/видео.html
![Tomas Haake (Meshuggah) reacts to..... drumtalk [special]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aP6SWePP_wk/mqdefault.jpg)
It's like being in a thunderstorm and suddenly the sun breaks through and it becomes a beautiful day after all.
A perfect description.
That's such a perfect description
This has always been my metaphor of this song too. That guitar solo in the outro is like the first songbird that dares to venture out after the storm.
Wow
poetic as f!
It's all polymeters in standard 4/4 signature. Once your brain begins to hear the elusive 4/4 pulse, the groove suddenly sounds like it weighs 10 tons.
Meshuggah members have often mentioned Rush as one of their influences. Hagström said on one interview that Rush's Alex Lifeson was a huge influence in terms of rhythm playing.
Can't say I'm shocked to hear that. Would definitely explain the similar tonal sounds I heard in the latter part of this track. Thanks!
Meshuggah uses Dorian for the outro riff/lead. That may be as close to happy as Meshuggah get.
LOL! Fair enough!
Dorian to Lydian. There’s a really good analysis of it here on RUclips.
This was the track that really cemented them as one of my all time favorite bands. The chaos, the groove and the perfect solo to finish it off! They have so much range.
I'd also love to hear what you think about The Contortionist, they are a unique flavor of prog metal that I haven't really heard replicated yet. Tracks like Language I and II or Thrive are amazing experiences.
I'm familiar with The Contortionist, though not deeply so. Actually saw half of a live set by them opening for Devin Townsend along with Haken. (Had to arrive late to the show.) I really like them, but just haven't quite found the time to do a deep-dive.
the vocals are percussive. every syllable is thought out the more you listen the more it all clicks
That's a skill I'm still learning. Given how much is going on with this songs, I think it's taking me a while to get the feel for it. LOL
@@BleedingEdgeProg yeah i remember when i first started listening to Meshuggah. i put straws pulled at random on the shelf at first... once i listened to A LOT of Meshuggah and understood their style it all clicked and nearly every song that i once thought was "meh" , i went back to and was blown away. the other thing is its all able to be followed in 4/4 feel. nothing is random. its all extremely strict rhythmically unlike most other bands that all sound the same and are just competing to see who sounds like they are projectile vomiting the best! this is masterclass musicianship so it does require a long respectful listen to actually grasp as its so syncopated and so unique ( or better as id say) yep im an elitist but at least i dont listen to lorna shore!
@@boomerwithatumor4624 LOL! Fair enough. Thanks for the insights! Seems the consistent feedback I get is that these guys take a good bit of listening to fully grasp.
Came here to make this comment, you sort of have to break your brain to their style - then once you understand Jens place in the musical structure, his performance becomes really impressive, despite delivering a bit of a monotone (on purpose, to accent the percussive role)
@@magusmelanie828 It's definitely a paradigm shift for me, as I come from the old school when it comes to vocals. How much I'll eventually come to embrace them remains to be seen. Worth noting that I am definitely a fan of some harsh vocalists (Mikael Akerfeldt, Tatiana Shmayluk) and the use of harsh vocals in some songs. That's just to say that there's hope for me, yet! LOL
Thanks for listening to what I suggested!
Thank YOU for the suggestion! I hope I came close to saying your handle correctly!
You got it right about the lyrics
There's a first! LOL
It's not a surprise you would mention ambience when listening to this song because Meshuggah _does_ have an ambient side! There is a good chunk of their discography contains ambience in the tracks. A couple of notable tracks with ambience are the intro of They Move Below and the outro of Stifled. 99.9% of them are written by the rhythm guitarist Marten Hagstrom. In fact, he wrote Straws Pulled At Random and did the solo too!
Nice! I would certainly say that makes sense given his reported love for Lerxst. I recall reading back in the late 80's about Alex using his guitar more for adding texture and ambience to Rush songs more than he had in their earlier days. Seems Hagstrom is reflecting that influence, there.
To shed some light, the re-release of Nothing features 8 string guitars (7 strings on the original), live drums (triggered drums on the original), and a full remixing. The original album was mixed over two days and a bit rushed because the band received a short turnaround offer to join a big national tour in the US. The original is punchier and a very raw mix, it’s a point of debate among fans as to which they prefer.
@@farmered4232 Thanks for the clarification, there!
I love their ambient side.
@@farmered4232 slight correction, the drums on the original were live, it was the re-release that featured triggered drums.
That pause hurt
you say you don't headbang but your comment " enough to encourage headbanging" tells me that you are intuitively feeling the "pulse" of their grooves. You may find yourself in the future headbanging by surprise because of their sick riffs lmao.
LOL! It might happen. Generally, when I'm focused on analyzing a new song while reading the lyrics, my mind is too occupied to get into headbanging, usually. If I do, though, it'll be comparatively subtle.
Nearly all their music is just 4/4.
I think they have like two or three riffs total that aren't.
Their use of polymeters and polyrhythms give it that weird cycling behaviour.
But it's always got the 4/4 backbone in there to headbang to.
Yeah, I can sense that. Despite all the complexity, they still have that through-line that links for good old traditional metal.
Marten be praised!
ahh yyou did the remaster version and not the original version
Yep! So...I take it you prefer the original, then?
@@BleedingEdgeProgoriginal got the better drums in my opinion, ghost notes and stuff. Vocals are better in the original too I think. Overall sound picture is much greasier and groovier
@@evankeen1245 Someone has remade the songs with the guitar from the remaster, but the rest of the instruments from the original. I like them a lot! ruclips.net/video/xVdvNurXev0/видео.html
@@evankeen1245 The guitars on the remaster are way better tho
The blue version took my love for this album to another level.. love both still