MESHUGGAH — Contradictions Collapse (review)

MESHUGGAH — Contradictions Collapse album cover Album · 1991 · Technical Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
The Angry Scotsman
Meshuggah's debut album, this album is still heavily rooted in thrash metal and is a pretty far cry from their technical/progressive days. However, it is still a decent album and does showcase a bit of what is in store.

Pretty thrashy, with a lot of normal sounding riffs makes this a pretty good album to just rock out to. Despite what one may think on a first listen, Contradictions Collapse is pretty unorthodox. It does have an odd, off kilter feel in some of its thrashiness...a mild version of the extreme time signatures we'll see in the future. Fredrik's unorthodox solo style is pretty evident on this album (to those unfamiliar it's best described as robotic free jazz?), and there are some progressive moments in songs like "Qualms of Reality", "We'll Never See the Day" and "Cadeverous Mastication". While nowhere near their later levels, there is also a good amount of groovy syncopation on this album.

Favorite songs are "Paralyzing Ignorance" and the truly progressive metal song "Choirs of Devastation".

Some problems with the album are Kidman's vocals, which are pretty horrid. For me, this will not change much in the future...but here they are quite bad, and not helped by Thordendal's backing shouts. Though it does add a pretty intense punk type gang chorus feel. The bass is way too loud on this album, or the tone is not right for such prominence. Either way, it doesn't sound too good. While ambitious and experimental, yet still rooted in thrash, this album doesn't always "work". This isn't really a surprise.

While originally this was no more than a two star album, it has grown on me with time. Interesting thrash album, mildly technical (in its cold precision and not so much riffing) and a bit progressive in its song structures. Give it some time and this will turn out to be a decent album.

Three Stars
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