Meshuggah Albums Ranked

Meshuggah is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1987. The band’s current lineup consists of lead vocalist Jens Kidman, lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal, drummer Tomas Haake, rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, and bassist Dick Lövgren. Since its formation, the band has released eight studio albums, six EPs, and eight music videos. Their latest studio album, The Violent Sleep of Reason, was released on 7 October 2016. In 2006 and 2009, Meshuggah was nominated for two Swedish Grammis Awards for their albums Catch Thirtythree and obZen, respectively. In 2018, the band was nominated for a Grammy Award for their song “Clockworks” under the “Best Metal Performance” category.[2] The band has performed in various international festivals, including Ozzfest and Download, and embarked on the ob Zen world tour from 2008 to 2010, and also the “Ophidian Trek”. Here are all of Meshuggah’s albums ranked.

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9. Contradictions Collapse (1991)

“This album has got some killer riffs, and even more killer drums. The bass is also at the perfect level in my opinion, where it’s perfectly audible but doesn’t overshadow everything else. Jens also sounds fucking amazing on this album, though he’s always been the one redeeming factor for this band in my opinion. I’d say the highlight of this album is Internal Evidence. This song is And Justice For All on crack, and I love it.”

8. Catch Thirtythree (2005)

“Catch Thirtythree is a wormhole of anxiety, fear, and pure alien atmosphere. In junction with a over-arching concept that is extremely psychological, surreal, and very dark with no certainty of reprieve. Inside is also, I feel, to be some of the best executed, highly ambitious music I’ve ever heard.”

7. I (2004)

“I remember the moment that I realized how happy I was that I listened to metal. This song is what made me realize it. I honestly believe that my life would not be as enjoyable if I hadn’t listened to this song. I feel sorry for those of the population that aren’t able to enjoy this because their musical taste can’t handle it….I really do. It has three of the most epic (and creative) soloes in aggressive music.”

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6. Koloss (2012)

“With Koloss we see Meshuggah taking a small step backward, looking at their music and acknowledging that they and everybody else knows they can write the most technical music of all time, and that it’s time to use their talents to make you move in a different way. This record is flowing, groovy, and pummeling all at once.”

5. The Violent Sleep Of Reason (2016)

4. Nothing (2002)

“This was definitely Meshuggah’s most groundbreaking album that introduces the Meshuggah sound that everyone knows today. The band managed to craft an album that is soaked in a dissonant atmosphere that is unmatched in the band’s remaining discography. The band’s signature rhythms and grooves are in full force as demonstrated by classics like “Rational Gaze” and “Closed Eye Visuals”. ‘Nothing’ is a classic that has spawned many imitators, but hasn’t been surpassed by anyone within the djent subgenre other than the band themselves.”

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3. Chaosphere (1998)

“This release is one of Meshuggah’s best. They deliver on this album an extreme complex and technical music. It’s hard to get into at first but once start appreciating it you cannot get enough. The instruments play insane polyrhythm’s and the bass is very important and over mixed. This album is just pure oppressive insanity that is just back up perfectly with the long hateful barking of madness from the vocalist. Great album.”

2. obZen (2008)

“Honestly, this album feels like a serious step up from Meshuggah’s previous efforts. It’s less straightforward and predictable, and as such, it managed to hook me better than any album since Contradictions Collapse. Some of these songs are seriously heavy bangers that I had to listen to multiple times because I just couldn’t get enough.”

1. Destroy Erase Improve (1995)

“‘Destroy Erase Improve’ is, at least in my estimation, Meshuggah’s greatest work. On their earliest works, Meshuggah had resembled an extremely developed, apocalyptic form of thrash metal; after this album, on ‘Chaosphere’, the technical and industrial elements of the band came to dominate their style, essentially completely excising any of their identifiable thrash metal past. The material on ‘Destroy Erase Improve’, however, forms the bridge between their two styles, with more of the traditional song structures and identifiably melodic riffs of thrash as well as the extremely technical aspects of their later works, and this marriage creates their best release, being both satisfyingly experimental and technical as well as grounded in perceptible song structures.”