Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep of Reason (2016)

Djent wizards Meshuggah return with their first release in four years titled “The Violent Sleep of Reason”. While we never been huge fans of the band, tons of our readers and friends always continue to rave over the band’s polyrhythmic exploits and the acrobatic merits of the band’s intricate music. In this release, the band delivers nearly 60 minutes of music split in ten tracks that while heavy and punishing, and indeed more diverse than some of the band’s earlier material, still not quite our cup of tea.

As the release opens with pummeling tracks like “Clockworks”, “Born in Dissonance” and “MonstroCity”, we clearly appreciate the technical prowess of Fredrik Thordendal and company, but can’t quite get into the music. The songs are different from each other, but they somewhat still feel very similar thanks to the guitar work and the music time signatures. Other tracks like
By the Ton”, go as far as reminding us of a more technically engaging version of Static X or Powerman 5000.

We usually give albums at least 3 full listens before starting to even formulate an opinion, with “The Violent Sleep of Reason” we listened to the release over 15 times before we even decided to write anything about it. We still find some tracks like “Violent Sleep of Reason”, “Our Rage Won’t Die” quite accessible and engaging, but then others like “Ivory Tower” and the closer “Into Decay” really put us off due to their odd tempo changes and convoluted approaches.

Overall, we are quite fond of Avant-garde and Progressive-anything releases, but Djent is something we can’t really get into. The music is obviously technically great, but is it enjoyable? … at least not for us. Based on our comparison versus the band’s previous releases and how we liked/not liked them, we scored this release. There are some crushing and accessible tracks which we liked. However, we are sure fans of the band will certainly find this release engaging and will surely love the convoluted style of the tracks presented here.

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Release: October 7th, 2016

Genre: Djent / Groove Metal

Country: Sweden