Meshuggah were never a basic metal band. The signs for polyrhythmic development and their approach to vocals and guitars from a different angle were apparent in debut album Contractions Collapse (1991) and its follow-up Destroy, Erase, Improve, released in 1995.
But in 1998, their third record Chaosphere plotted a new curve, along lines of progressive hardcore, industrial music and jazz fusion, shifting slightly away from their death and thrash influences. Whether it was conscious or not, they hit upon their own kind of infectious, rhythmic grid.
