The djentlemen have created a masterpiece here. The EP consists of one twenty-one minute song of brutal guitar riffage, extremely complex time signatures, screamed vocals and the complete disregard of melody or regular song structure. The song must contain at least several different riffs. The signature Thordendal solos are present. Brilliant drumming from Hakke who manages to keep up with the tempo changes and time signatures, very technical, complex drumming but done with amazing precision. I recommend ‘I’ to those who are just starting out with Meshuggah. It encompasses everything the band has done, in my opinion. Definitely a masterpiece of metal music.

The album that runs over to the boundaries of music and what is deemed tasteful, and punches it square in the face. This album covers a plethora of musical genres, a lot of the time, in one song! Songs like After School Special, a song about child abuse (“Stop tickling me!”) and Violenza Domestica, a song about domestic violence (really?!) with Patton singing and whispering abuse in Italian, both contain dark humour and have very eerie atmospheres. Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz contains nonsensical lyrics, scatting and great trumpet and saxophone work. Desert Search For Techno Allah contains a mix of techno music, brilliant jazz drumming and Arabic music. Very avant-garde, indeed. Platypus is probably the most technical song on the album with some amazing work from the rhythm section, very jazzy and I love the jazz section in the song. I just wanted to outline my favourite songs on the album. Overall, the bands most experimental release and one of the most original albums EVER released. The way the band can go from heavy guitar riffing to a calm jazz number is mind-boggling. This album should be heard by everyone who enjoys avant-garde music and despite the weirdness of it all, it isn’t completely inaccessible. Highly recommended!