Meshuggah: Nothing : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

In the rarefied realm of grind-core -- the metal subgenre where speed, virtuosity and hateful spew are the measure of excellence -- the Swedish quartet Meshuggah have been acquiring influential devotees such as Tool and Slayer since the early Nineties. On Nothing, the band's fourth full-length release, Meshuggah continue to innovate without stinting on the aggression. Tomas Haake remains a one-man percussion army, his cross-rhythms dive-bombing around the arrangements with mind-boggling, neoclassical precision. Whereas previous albums found guitarists Marten Hagstrom and Fredrik Thordendal attacking in staccato bursts, their new custom-made eight-string axes promote a more spacious and sinister feel, with long bent notes hovering like predators. The only cliche is Jens Kidman's doomsday howl. Otherwise, Nothing should send grind-core devotees twitching all the way to their graves.