Meshuggah
obZen
Release Date: Mar 11, 2008
Genre(s): Rock, Metal
Record label: Nuclear Blast
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Album Review: obZen by Meshuggah
Excellent, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
On first listen, the sound on Obzen, Meshuggah's sixth full-length, is startling, not for its trademark rapid-fire key and tempo changes, or for the intricate, insanely knotty riffs that careened over 2002's Nothing or 2005's Catch Thirty-Three. Instead, it is the rampaging charge that leads off the set on "Combustion," a balls-out sprint that recalls the band's earlier catalog albums like Contradictions Collapse, Destroy Erase Improve, and even Chaosphere. Power, focus and attention to the bone-crushing power are at the center of Obzen.
Opinion: Excellent
On “Combustion,” the leadoff track to Meshuggah’s sixth full-length, obZen, Tomas Haake beats his drums in a standard thrash polka. Rhythm guitars shred in 4/4 time. Fredrik Thordendal sweeps in with one of his patented clean-tone guitar solos right when you’d expect him to. It’s the fastest album track Meshuggah has recorded since Chaosphere (1998) and the most straightforward thrash tune the band has written since its landmark Destroy Erase Improve (1995), if not before.