10 Classic Albums That Celebrated Their 20th Anniversary In 2015

Meshuggah – Destroy Erase Improve

Source // pattonmad.com

Innovative, inventive, insane and completely at odds with all prevailing trends. Meshuggah have never released a bad album but, in 1995, Destroy Erase Improve was an assault on the senses precious few could have seen coming!

As a mantra, destroy, erase and improve surmised exactly what Meshuggah were doing with the thrash metal blueprint. 4 years prior they were just another thrash band, releasing – the admittedly challenging but nothing truly spectacular – Contradictions Collapse, an album that hinted at what was to come but in hindsight the progression was unfathomable.

Opener, “Future Breed Machine”, could be considered the quintessential Meshuggah song. Introducing an ill-prepared audience to a new breed of polyrhythmic battery featuring militaristic vocals, virtually stripped of any and all human essence, and a level of beautiful and off-kilter melody – an approach unwisely dropped on future releases in favour of an even more pummelling approach – that set them aeons apart from their peers.

Artificial intelligence infused, mechanised warfare set to inhuman levels of aggression and performance, Meshuggah were an anomaly in the extreme metal scene and while their sound can be described as repetitive that would be missing the point. They created an entirely new sound, one that went on to influence a generation and breed a new sub-genre and their single-minded journey down the path of experimentation – each track subtly toying with an obscure formula of their own conjuring – ultimately created a cohesive and hypnotic experience no band has been able to match ever since.