Nothing (Bonus Dvd)

Japanese pressing CD + DVD incvludes bonus material. Victor. 2008.

Sweden's Meshuggah have come up with their most unrelenting and unpredictable barrage of punishment since forming in 1987. Imagine the most thunderous elements of Slipknot set loose in an ever-changing landscape of riffs. Not that Meshuggah take much from their masked colleagues; the roots of Nothing lie in the technical thrash of lauded 1980s French-Canadian bands Voivod and DBC. Where past albums have seen the group smirking through the good-natured wittiness of their baffling instrumental changeups, Nothing is a grueling, spiral slam, spring-loaded with eight-string guitars and plenty of surprises. Meshuggah's message? Evolve or be left behind. --Ian Christe