MESHUGGAH – The Violent Sleep of Reason Review

MESHUGGAH – The Violent Sleep of Reason

Nuclear Blast Records

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Wow, some powerful Djent (a type of progressive metal). In fact, their guitarist according to a source is responsible for inventing this style. It features some real low-end sounding guitar work mainly palm muted riffs and grooves in which it seems (based on what I’ve heard from past releases) is their strongest output to date. Not only is the music good and original, their lyrics are extremely well thought out!

The vocals are also really good. High-end screaming, these Swedish veterans really have a lot to offer here. My initial reaction the first time I heard this was that like pretty much all of their releases, is that it’s atypical. Maybe even to some extent bizarre the way the music sounds. It’s not a criticism, it’s a fact. They’ve never been a typical sort of metal band. That’s what makes them, though.

And also, for trivia’s sake, MESHUGGAH is Hebrew and Yiddish for “crazy”. This release shows their evolution in songwriting and how they’ve constructed some amazing work here. I like every single song on here, not because of sheer lip service to the metal community, but because it’s true! I’ve read their lyrics 4 times and they fit so well with the screaming vocals/guitar work.

I believe that they worked extra hard on this release not to mention that they’re unique in every way. However, I haven’t heard any other band that plays Djent style of metal though there are several out there. According to a source though, MESHUGGAH’s guitarist is who (like I said previously) came up with this sort of sound. It really is different, but in a good way.

This album is available in stores so buy it don’t just get most of it off of YouTube or other digitally downloadable websites. It made some real impression when it was first released here in the US. It deserves it and in no way does any of the music stink. So if you’re into this odd sort of style of metal, get a physical copy so that you can play it on your stereo and boom box!

Ryan  “Death8699”  Fanucchi