Meshuggah are a musical singularity. Despite being ostensibly one of the least accessible bands on Earth, the Umeå outsiders have transcended the niche prog metal scene and penetrated the mainstream, becoming shorthand for mastering your instrument and then using it to bully the fuck out of people. They’ve launched their own subgenre (the onomatopoeic ‘djent’), played the Royal Albert Hall and influenced everyone from Deftones to Wolfgang Van Halen.
Fronted by the imperious Jens Kidman and often playing in rhythms which would stump a maths professor, Meshuggah appear too heavy to be huge and too clever for the masses. Yet here we are. And it’s due to something they’ve learned which most others in the tech-metal pool never understand: your songs may be complex, but that doesn’t mean they need to be convoluted.
