LONG time Meshuggah fan
They are one of my favorite metal bands, definitely. They've created this whole "djent" trend that a lot of new metal bands are following. Those guys are geniuses, whether you appreciate the vocals or not, the music they make is unbelievable sometimes. Jens' scream can get a bit harsh at times, as could be said about any growled/screamed/shouted/squealed vocals.
For someone like me, who has always liked the hard rock distorted guitars and wicked pounding drum beats, it was still a gradual acceptance and transition into listening to all the music with the more harsh vocals. It just started with, "Hey man, you have to hear these guys, the guitarist/drummer/bassist is sick" and I would just ignore the vocals for the most part and listen to the part I wanted to pay attention to
Then over time, when you get into the riffs and the grooves, you start catching some of the lyrics, and so on...
Now I love those growls and screams. Once you start calling yourself a metalhead, start training your voice to do those growls and stuff, you really do appreciate how hard it is
It's a lot easier to injure your vocal chords from screaming, especially because most people try to do it as loud as they possibly can. Anyhow, I know some people just can't tolerate it and it's not for them. I'm a fan of music of almost all types. The ones I don't like I still appreciate on some level. I've always been pretty diverse in that sense. And that has always been the music I'm most attracted to. Meshuggah is boss, let me tell you
But these days I only really listen to it for the guitars, try to learn as much as I can from emulating them, because they're masters
So I have a couple bands that some people might enjoy. For those Meshuggah fans, if you haven't heard Vildhjarta, please check out the video below
When I first heard them, I dubbed them "Meshuggah 2.0" but as funny (and accurate) a label as that may be, the guitarists do have a distinct style of their own, which is also absolutely amazing. The song Eternal Golden Monk, any guitarists out there, check it out. He does some insane inharmonic stuff which I still can't quite figure out.
[YOUTUBE]
Now, everyone else, you must listen to this song
It's an instrumental acoustic song by a metal band called The Contortionist. They have quickly become my favorite metal band and I'm eagerly anticipating their new album. There are much more clean vocals and less harsh growls/screams (for those who prefer that). I do love his clean vocals. They're what I would call "Experimental-Technical-Progressive-Deathcore"
Why do we feel the need to attach nice little neat labels to everything?
[YOUTUBE]
Their lyrics are not what you would expect from a metal band. If you're not into any of this music, but you love sci-fi, check these lyrics out
The Contortionist said:
1. Primal Directive
Bridge to analyst; access the secondary plasmic dataholds.
Now viewing all current planetary bodies.
Move to constrain your results to newest sentient life.
Scan the surface. Bring up vitals.
Local life thrived much quicker than anticipated.
We are pleased.
Focus shifted.
Save the organism through implied relocation.
Inferior understanding limits options and adaptation will be necessary for the specimen to survive.
As we map out this universe, all that can be seen is an ocean of emptiness.
This is primal directive.
Now we execute standard protocol.
As these cycles are nearing completion, initiate solar cleansing.
Move on, time never waited on its occupants.
Live on, by any means and every technology.
You have been defined.
2. Flourish
The rebirth of intelligent life will restore this planet's cosmic status.
As the surface draws into focus, every variance and nuance realized.
The simple birth.
Time is moving forward.
Elapse. Evolve. Expand. Adapt.
Adaptation runs parallel with surviving global conflict.
Sustained permanence proves imperfect existence, integrated.
Balance is reached between the parent star.
Endless motion.
Now the experience is long gone.
We won't forget it's entrancing stare, as long as we recall it's grip.
Stellar forces are keeping us alive.
3. Expire
The system is now free.
Witness our obsolescence, end sparks of life.
A new species can never fathom how quickly it will be extinct.
The system is now free from error.
The system revokes our viral form.
Silence becomes primary language.
Internal wave, undulate us home.
This system is now free from error.
Removed from the earth like a scourge with a delicate and yet powerful hand.
Idle boundaries allow admission to pull this world apart from the inside.
Equilibrium has been disturbed and the surface must collapse.
Compacted star, the only destination.
Unavoidable paradigm.
The radiant sun engraves its name.
Unavoidable paradigm.
4. Contact
[First Contact]
[Observer:]
"For solutions, look to the sky.
Coincide with constellations.
I stand correct. Time stands exact.
Your time of departure has arrived."
[Organism:] "Initiate this birth. Introvert this dimension."
[The Exchange]
[Observer:] "Conception, use this apparatus."
[Organism:] "Creator, you are all knowing, I beg you, show me your vision."
[Observer:] "My creation, stare into space. Decipher your reality."
[Last Contact]
[Observer:]
"For solutions, look to the sky.
Coincide with constellations.
Consummation has begun and I am your guide.
Together we unlock the secrets of the stars."
[Organism:] "Your signal is fading."
[Observer:] "You are..."
[End Transmission]
You are...
5. Advent
Now the inaugural exchange is done, we cannot see past the solar shroud.
Escape.
Calculating all viable routes.
This terrestrial rock will be consumed.
Deafening static is haunting me, the blackness is beckoning.
Countless samples of our world will be jettisoned into every direction that we have known of.
Our satellites have painted the sky with their ionic glass brushes.
The cryotubes will store our youth.
Desperation has set in and all we can do is run.
Feeling so alone, we set out to find other life.
The transport will be outfitted for a journey spanning future generations
6. Vessel
We have fabricated this ship to continue our legacy.
At the entrance the inscription reads: "We must not end".
We will not end.
The continuation of our species is riding on this one mission to another space.
Descendants on this planetary trip will never forget.
Storing the history books aboard this ship,
we ensure our memory. The memory.
They will feed on the images we create,
and will survive by our deeds.
As we wait for the architects to build our savior,
preparations have begun and time is short.
The vessel is now complete.
It holds all the hopes and dreams of those who wish for more.
What will we see when we get there?
Can we tell the two worlds apart?
7. Oscillator
A warning to conducting officers of the machine. You are most exposed to the
diatomic focused-gravity. Stray cosmic rays are threatening our generational
biosphere. Celestial missiles envelop nearby space climate zones, in the void.
Prolonged exposure to trace amounts of dark matter produces an exponential
decomposition.
8. Axiom
[Instrumental]
9. Exoplanet I: Egress
We are among the stars
Who are the operators of this boundless array?
The expedition takes us to our new home...
Systems re-allign
Speculation based on calculated reason leads me to believe we are not alone
Seeded by a greater race, we only hope to find the answers now embedded into the fabric of our minds
Are we moving forward?
Guided by the maps of progress
Imperfect perfections allow existence
10. Exoplanet II: Void
We long to feel our bodies outside centrifugal conditions.
An orderly solar system will outlast this guiding center system.
As we leave our galaxy, every certainty abandoned.
The referential lawns of man are lost, nothing is relative.
Cold and empty space surrounds and swells.
Time is moving at invariable speeds and our instruments are useless.
Oscillating obsession, beautiful apparatus.
These cycles put my mind at ease.
Bodies cannot sustain what this was built for.
The body cannot sustain what this was built for.
We worship oscillation, no other way.
11. Exoplanet III: Light
The microcosm is in exhibition.
terrestrial shaped into a magnificent realm.
Our colonial settlements are threatened by the sky.
The circling disk of ice watches quietly from a distance.
Refracting nebulaic dust has pierced the outer shell.
A blooming world is being ripped apart.
Planetary wide scorching from the focused light.
This extra solar vessel, orbiting the cluster.
Ejects the sample pods of the Eden passengers.
As for us, we must migrate.
This exoplanet has failed.
