Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on MESHUGGAH - Clockworks (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO) ORIGINAL VIDEO: • MESHUGGAH - Clockworks... Patreon: www.patreon.com/criticalreactions Twitter: critreactions
The b section of that song is one of the most destructive and hypnotizing sonic assaults I’ve ever experienced. After 12 years it gets better every time I listen to it. Unarguably one of the best metal compositions of all time, and my favorite song by them
Critical Reactions A lot of Meshuggah stuff can be written down in different time signatures as well. Thomas Haake (the drummer) is well aware of that but he says to him personally it's in 4/4. Meshuggah kind of have their own way of thinking about rythms, groove and all that stuff. There are also a lot of jazz influences in their music. For example you can easily hear how lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal is heavily influenced by jazz guitarist Alan Holdsworth. Overall, to me, a lot of Meshuggah's music has a lot of this trance-like feel like some electronic music or sometimes even ambient or whatever have. Thats also what the repetitiveness helps achieve. They create massive and deep soundscapes. Actually I think this video is quite a good visual representation of this. Maybe also check out a live video of them. They even have a light-guy who works in perfect unison with the musics rhythm which makes the overall experience even more impressive.
Meshuggah is an interesting band for sure. The rhythms they do are a huge part of it and I can understand what you said about the trance-like feel. I've seen them live and it was a feeling that's hard to explain, but it was a powerful experience. They know what they're doing. It's not for everyone, but it hits quite hard to those who "get it." I'm sort of on the cusp about this band, but the fact is they're super talented.
@@9UWmember the older stuff is easier to get into I think. The first albums sound more like modern thrash with a twist. Some songs in the later are a bit "easier", too.
It makes sense. You get so used to, and adept at playing in 4/4, that you can experiment with all the dotted and double dotted notes you want. Timing is still an infinite spectrum, we just divide it into subdivisions.
Much respect for speaking your truth. Meshuggah took more than 10 years to click with me. I really enjoy their music now and that's about it. To each their own.
The rhythms of the bass drums and guitars try to trick you into thinking this is in an odd time signature. However, almost all of Meshuggah's songs are in 4/4. If you listen to the drums, the hi-hat or ride mark the quarter notes and the snare lands on count 3 of each measure. However, in this particular song, they don't do that a lot. They are more tricky with the time in this one, even though it is still a steady 4/4 throughout. This is not really the best introductory song to Meshuggah. I'd suggest something like Straws Pulled at Random or Do Not Look Down to really get what they are trying to accomplish. When you can combine the 4/4 beat with the odd rhythms that the guitars do in your head, it's like you can hear a 3rd rhythm which usually kicks your ass. That's when you realize Meshuggah is doing something really cool that nobody else is doing, and you become a huge fan. I was not a big fan of Meshuggah my first few listens, but now I'm hooked. Even the vocals... its hard to imagine another type of vocals working as well with this type of music. Think of the vocals as another rhythm instrument.
Xova Qiin it not in 4/4. It in 4/4 and other time sigs. It’s called a polyrhythm, they overlap. The ride is the metronome for you but it doesn’t always serve as the anchor, sometimes it’s a red herring and sometimes it’s your only chance at regrouping. Don’t let it fool you.
@@colinderue8095 You're wrong. It's in 4/4. It is steady throughout the song. None of the other little 7/8 bits that the guitars and bass drums do stay consistent longer than a couple repetitions. Those off-beat phrases always surrender to the overdriving 4/4 beat after 16 or 32 quarter notes. Listen to Meantime by Helmet to hear a more simple version of what Meshuggah does. That song is obviously in 4/4, but the guitars play a 3/4 riff for 4 bars before the 4/4 time signature forces them to add a note to complete the phrase. If it were a pure polyrhythm, they wouldn't have to add that extra beat. Meshuggah does a more complicated version of that, but its pretty much the same concept. It has features of a polyrhythm, but its just a tricky riff trying to pull you away from the beat. What you are trying to describe is not even a polyrhythm. If it were multiple time signatures at once, that would be a polymeter.
Meshughah is god-tier when it comes to polyrhythms. If I can suggest another of theirs that you’d dig other than Bleed, “Dancers to a Discordant System” is a masterpiece. Cheers buddy.
If you haven’t heard of car bomb they are also some godly polyrhythm groovologists. You should check em out they got a lot of meshuggah influence but add a lot more melody and feeling to the music.
As a fan of Meshuggah, I’d have to say that your critique was well-informed and fair. The band is all about the drums and guitar as you said, and I personally block out a lot of the vocals as I’m listening. I’m not a fan of the vocal style tbh, but the band rocks so hard I can’t help but to keep listening. And the rhythms are so complicated that I listen to some of their songs dozens of times and still can’t predict where the 1 is going to be.
Meshuggah is one of those few bands that you actually need to know something about music to get a full understanding of the raw skill being shown in 99% of their songs. Also the part at 6:38 is probably my favorite 10 seconds in all of metal. Like this song pummels you for 4 minutes straight as if you're trapped under waves and for that split second your head breaks the surface and you can breath before it crashes back down on you again.
you 100% need to give them another shot man! This is one of their most rhythmic centered songs with no steady groove, most of their other stuff is incredibly groovy. Bleed and Clockworks are their most rhythmically intricate, but not easily enjoyable in my opinion. If you enjoy Periphery’s groovy djent riffs, you’ll love Meshuggah’s other stuff. You should check out Do Not Look Down!
Got some recommendations for you for some interesting bands: Daughters - “Satan in the wait” (One of the best noise rock bands out there) Amenra - Either “A solitary reign” or “Plus pres de toi” (A great post-metal/doom band) Converge - Either “Dark horse” or “A single tear” (Progenitors of metallic hardcore. One of the most important metal bands) Neurosis - Either "Stripped" or "Purify" (Progenitors of post-metal. One of the most important metal bands) Brutus - "Sugar Dragon (Live version at Ghent)" (Just a really interesting post-hardcoreish band) Oathbreaker - “10:56/Second son of r.” (No idea how to classify it. Post-metal(?) with elements of black metal??) Tool - “Intermission/Jimmy” (Not a standard pick for tool but one of my favourites) Mastodon - “Crack the Skye” (Progressive sludge band, maybe not a standard pick) Alice in chains - “Down in a hole” (Grunge classic)
Oathbreaker are all over the place in terms of their stylistic approach, but they still sound incredibly cohesive and monolithic no matter what. That what makes them so great for me.
Destroy Erase Improve - their best album for me. Meshuggah is one of a kind/ It's about madness and agression. That's why their music is like that. And also Frederic's solos are INSANE!
Agree! I love their catalogue, but THAT is the album I first discovered them in 1995, and I love the "Prog Metal" aspects of their Extreme Metal on DEI. Fredrik's "Holdsworth" soloing on the album is divine \m/. On "Special Defects" too!
Been watching your stuff lately, love the more in depth and knowledgeable approach! I'd like to recommend Cynic, who in the early days of death metal started doing some wildly unique jazz-fusion influenced metal that was from Mars when compared to more meat and potatoes bands of the time. I'd suggest 'The Space for This' off of their second album. I think it'd be an interesting departure from some of the 'brutal' bands you've been getting recommended lately.
I'd recommend him something from Focus though, Veil of Maya for example. Traced in Air is also a masterpiece, but Focus was THE album that had brought fretless bass to the spotlight in metal.
It took me very long to get into Meshuggah, feeling it was boring and sterile, but little by little I found their songs can have a very strong groove. I finally love New Millenium Cyanide Christ, Combustion, Obzen, Chameleon Corridors, Future Breed Machine, Marrow, Electric Red, Perpetual Black Second, Swarm, Colossus... Don't think about melodies, every instrument is acting like drum in this band, and it's so awesome to try to keep track of all beats. On the other hand, I find Clockworks boring too... Like you said some parts groove and some don't
"every instrument is acting like drum in this band" I wish I had thought of this during the video, that's a fantastic way of explaining this song. It's both entirely factual and pretty much sums up the core aspect that I didn't enjoy much. I'll give this song some time and a couple of repeat listens and see if I get into them more.
Critical Reactions I like that phrase too! It reminds me of African drumming circles where they’ll start playing different polyrhythms that sound super outta nowhere! Two cool videos I enjoy... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-haGWi5lTibI.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rrEqNTyMF_A.html
My favorite part of this entire song is in the breakdown where they start a phrase of 6 eight notes and then add 2 beats every time the lick is repeated until it’s 14 eight long(then resetting back to 6). It took me like 25 listens through before I actually even noticed that because every time it gets shifted it’s easy to lose the beat. It’s also fun as hell to tap out the polyrhythms with your hands to this song because it’s constant 3-4-5-4-3 This song is groove start to finish
Holy geez that's such a right brain way to write a song :) I'm gonna have to give this another listen and look for that section and feel out the subtle phrase lengthening.
Took me some effort to get into meshuggah too. "every instrument is acting like drum in this band" i think when i got that too is when i started enjoying their music. Also the vocals started working a bit more for me when i heard that they are written in by the drummer, which gave them some more identity rather than what i first just took as a very monotone scream/growl just for the sake of it.
I think you should check out demiurge by meshuggah. It's definitely more on the groove side and less on the technical. I definitely understand what you mean about the technical appeal of meshuggah while loosing the melodic aspect of the music.
Glad to see a reaction to Clockwork :D many other do Bleed or New Millenium Cyanide Christ (witch are grate too). To follow the Swedish them i recommend Opeth - Blackwater park!! I think you will like it more then this, they are more melodic and progressive but still heavy!
Meshuggah are using the vocals mainly as a percussion or a more background thing rather than having it as a thing to stand out. When you start taking vocals as so - it kind of finds it's place. (at least for me).
I've started to view all of the instruments as percussion, even the guitar. It's a really unique way to write music, where every instrument is focused on rhythm regardless of what their strong suit is typically defined as. Meshuggah is certainly a great study for polyrhythmic structure and unusual instrumental implementation, and on those terms I completely understand why fans enjoy their music, but as someone who enjoys melody and something closer to traditional composition format I don't think this band will ever be my cup of tea. I could be wrong and end up loving them after more listens, but right now they are a bit divorced from my current tastes in music.
Meshuggah is a hard sell for those who aren't accustomed to this type of music. If you're looking for melodies you won't find them here, as you yourself said they are all about the rhythm, the chug. I'm glad that you at least gave them a chance.
I'm a big Meshuggah fan. I really enjoyed your analysis and respect your point of view. I don't think songs like Bleed and Clockworks are everyone's cup of tea. You really have to be in to Meshuggah for those songs. That totally makes sense to me. If you are open to something different from Meshuggah, I'd recommend listening to the song Behind the Sun. I think you'd appreciate it more and it is a little more accessible. While it still plays around with time and rhythm, the melody of the song takes center stage much more than the songs you've heard so far. The album/song "I" also has segments that are much more about the melody while at the same time experimenting with time and rhythm. The entire second half of "I" is a total masterpiece (in my opinion) and really experiments with tonality/atonality and melody.
Few Meshuggah's songs I'd recommend Dancers to a Discordant System Straws Pulled at Random Lethargica Stengah Pravus Ivory Tower Born in Dissonance New Millenium Cyanide Christ In life is death/in death is death Future Breed Machine Neurotica Corridor of Chameleons Soul Burn Electric Red Perpetual Black Second There still are a lot of amazing songs from them can't list em all tho.
The whole song is in 4/4. Find the pulse, nod your head to that, and feel the patterns falling around you. There-in lies the magic. As a matter of fact. Most, if not all, of Meshuggah's catalog of music is in 4/4 or common time. It's the patterns weaving in and out of the pulse that make it sound like different time signatures.
I want to add a small bit to my Gorguts recommendation, which I gave in the comments to your Shylmagoghnar reaction. Instead of Obscura LP you can try something from their most recent album Colored Sands, for example "Le toît du monde". It's still quite dissonant and brutal, but not as grating and raw as Obscura, with a more reserved and academic approach to composition (there's also an orchestral piece in the middle of the album, that divides it into two lyrically and thematically distinct parts - the first is about Tibetian culture eligion and the other one is about its recent tragic history, which is directly related to Chinese occupation of course).
Completely understandable point of view. As a meshuggah fan i don't like Clockworks so much, I would have recommended you something like Rational Gaze from the album Nothing.
its not 4/4 its a polyrhythm one of thomas's hands is playing 4 but not everything in the track is... if you watch the drum playthrough you can see him play equal measures of 4 on his right and on the left he changes up the amount of notes spaced equally over the top of it
I only have a few Meshuggah songs that I put in prog-metal playlists of mine but what just fascinates me about them (especially being a hobby-drummer myself) is that you could headbang through the whole song and always have a beat to go for (usually the drummer's hi-hat or crash cymbal) but at the same time everything around that beat keeps shifting and moving and you don't really understand what's happening :D
Hey Bryan, if you ever end up reading this, here's some food for thought: Most if not all of Meshuggah's music is rhythm centric. I get why you were/are a bit put off by this. Their style evolved (or devolved, depending on one's take) into this musical machine over time. Back in their early years - I'm talking late 1980s to mid 1990s here - there used to be way more diversity in their music. There was an obvious and strong jazz influence in both the drum and guitar work. Seeing how the internet seems to worship tracks like Bleed, Future Breed Machine and Demiurge, I'd strongly suggest you try some of their old OLD material. There's more substance for you there, judging by the points you brought up during this video. A couple suggestions: - Sublevels (last song on their 2nd Album "Destroy Erase Improve", 1995) - Humiliative (opening song of their 2nd EP "None", 1994) - Ritual (3rd song on the aforementioned "None") - Straws Pulled At Random (specifically the original version from their album "Nothing", 2002) In 2006 they re-recorded Nothing and replaced the raw, human drums with programmed drums. This re-release is definitely the inferior version to most fans. It's more in line with the newer stuff, but it lacks the emotion and raw musicianship the original offered. The original has yellow album art, the re-release a dark earthy blue tint. Give the original a try if you're cusious. It's my favourite album. :) Cheers!
Clockworks is ot my favorite song by Meshuggah, but glad to see you've given it a reaction. One of my favorites by them was off of their older album Nothing, called Straws Pulled at Random. Not for super advanced time signatures or anything, but the solo and the groove/rhythm in the last 2 minutes is just so soothing. Unlike most of their other stuff in that regard.
@@CriticalReactions Straws pulled at Random is a masterpiece and definitely isnt in a typical time signature. Anything from Nothing album or Destroy, Erase, Improve are way more groove oriented than their current music is. It would be more entertaining for you.
Man you don't have to like something just cause it has a huge fan following! Give it multiple listens, and even if it doesn't click with you, you are free not to count yourself as a fan!!
Your attitude is enlightened in my opinion. I've stopped talking about bad and good music some time ago. Different music just does different things. If you fell good things when listening to a particular piece of music, good. If you don't, that's cool too. People and bands are different. In my opinion, that's a good thing. It would suck if things were the same. I see it like, if I don't like music even after giving it a proper chance, I say "it's not for me" rather than say "it's not good."
you are kinda wrong on this. Meshuggah are VERY melodic! they just use weird atonal melodies...they are still melodies. Its like saying that jazz music has no melody because jazz music uses non typical chords and scales
I never "got" Meshuggah... It just didn't make any sense to me... Until I saw them live 2 years ago, and then I was like "Oooooooooohhhhhhhh". The music takes on a whole different chara ter when you're watching the guys play it right in front of your face.
Hello again Brian, Suggestions for some Meshuggahner "Controlled Chaos" . . . I had read many years ago (maybe an interview with Rhythm Guitarist Marten Hagstrom) where someone in the band said each band member exchange turns being the "Percussionist", and at times the Drums are the "lead" instrument. I thought that was freakin' brilliant. This album I dare say is more "Prog Metal" for their brand of Extreme Metal: 1. 1995's "Destroy Erase Improve" album (2nd full length album). The opener "Future Breed Machine" (the 1st 20 seconds) was what sealed the deal for me and I have been a fan ever since. "Jens Kidman's" vocals were a happy medium between "Cookie Monster" and screaming. And Lead Guitarist "Fredrik Thordendal's" soling style was a lot more inspired by Jazz/Fusion guitarist, the late-great Allan Holdsworth (who you should checkout his solo albums, live performances, his "drummers", and the debut album by the Progressive Rock band "UK") as its become much more atmospheric (I call it; "The Sirens of Peril"). Drummer "Tomas Haake" is a freaking _marathon runner_ and it's hard to believe he has that dexterity for a 2-3 hour show. 2. The outstanding "Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects" - Sol Niger Within, album. If you can stand the vocals (it took me time to get used to), the music within is violently sublime. But, its actually 1 song in "parts", most of the _sub-tracks_ sound out of place if you don't listen to the whole album (much like Meshuggah's "I" or "Catch33"), so you may save it for your personal enjoyment . . . or insanity :p. Remember, the repetition is the groove to violently headbang too . . . which in Meshuggah's case, it may snap your neck. You may need to see "live" footage.
As far as weird sense of melody goes their guitarist Fredrik Thordendal has cited Jazz-Fusion artist Allan Holdsworth as one of his influences to his lead guitar approach (which is also Very apparent in his solo project 'Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects') you should check some of his stuff out to get more of an appreciation for what's going on in here in relation to what's going on rhythmically
Getting really tired of all the ”it's 4/4” comments in every damn Meshuggah song. Mostly from people unable to judge that for themselves, just parroting something they've read.
The crazy thing is most of their music is written in 4/4 - listen to the hi hat and ride patterns. They are just playing odd meters or rhythmic groupings over a 4/4 time signature and moving the downbeat like you mentioned. Don't get me wrong, shit is still wild and these guys have a ton of talent! Love me some Meshuggah!!
And no offense taken to not liking Meshuggah - totally understand its not for everyone. Animals As Leaders or Plini would be my recommendation for anyone looking for more melody and composition in a similar style.
Porcupine Tree's Anaesthetize would be a great track for you to break down. 15 min complex arrangement full of interesting melodies and shifting riffs. For a near-flawless live version check out the official release Live at Tilburg.
I'd assume you're familiar with dream theater, but if not, they have some masterpieces. Super ambitious: six degrees of inner turbulence. Technically one 42 minute song broken into multiple tracks. They play this with a live orchestra in one of their most recent live blu-rays Octavarium or A Change Of Seasons would be the two others to check out
Tool - The Grudge. Adam Jones is a fan of Meshuggah. Also, Neurosis - Throgh Silver In Blood or Under the Surface. Edit: talking about controlled chaos, The Mars Volta.
Been listening to extreme metal for 20 years. I'm not the biggest fan of Meshuggah, in general. That being said, Clockworks is a fucking masterpiece. This song is amazing. Also David Kempe has amazing taste. Kayo Dot is so good, and The Manifold Curiosity is a truly unique form of progressive rock/metal.
Wish you would have watched the drum-cam version of this instead so you could see all the ghost-note goodness. You'd probably enjoy some Ulcerate as well. Tremendous drummer in Ulcerate. Nice job!
Eh, Clockworks isn't really a major stand out kind of contribution....Bleed kinda fits a similar pattern of idea, but the drumming is really well done as is the rest of the composition. I generally tend to prefer things like "Rational Gaze", "New Millennium Cyanide Christ", "Destroy, Erase Improve" is fairly decent, essentially most compositions from "Chaosphere", and "Nothing" are pretty good, and the preliminary were kinda like a testing field where they seemed to experiment a bit to find their own "vibe"/"groove" then after "Nothing", and possibly "None"...some have been pretty good, actually most, but there's always that 1-2 per most of the productions that just go kinda into a drone mode kinda thing..still get the "cosmic" and "AI mechanic" style of solos as I like to call them, because that's kinda what I get from them in how they accent or fit the overall rhythm, timing, etc., but yeah poly-rhythms can be interesting to say the least...I wound up coming up with guitar riffs some time ago...didn't really pay attention to the timing, just piecing it together from several riffs I came up with....like a puzzle, but without a pre-determined definition of how the "picture" was supposed to look....so taking each piece, and trying it out in a certain variety of orders til I got a good combination with a good flow, and transition effect, but later, when having a friend keep an eye on the time signatures as I played the composition everything was in "odd" time signatures which I found amusing because I wasn't trying to emulate anything, or purposefully comprise something with odd time signatures it just kinda manifested that way as I created it, and ran through it, I just liked the sound combinations with the rhythm selections, and a few emphasis notes in certain areas I felt would suit that particular spot at that exact moment...it just sounded "right" so I went with it.
Dude, it's a killer bass. I've had it for over a decade and it's still has an amazing tone. I keep Ernie Ball Super Slinkies on it and love it so much. If I never get another bass in my life I'll still be happy.
No matter who you are, meshuggah takes time to absorb and first listens never do justice, thats one thing thats great about them. For me personally meshuggah has made everything else seem dull and boring to me lol... not sure if im upset about that or not but im not sick of meshuggah yet so i dont care. But anyway, once you get it, you can bop to it like the common pleb does to katy perry lol (Or you just might never like them) #subjective
I highly recommend you check out Meshuggah - I am colossus ( ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fTYXbFsWg-M.html ) or Meshuggah - Pitch Black ( ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7e3OuUyKvbg.html ) or Meshuggah - Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion ( ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m9LpMZuBEMk.html ) All three tracks are groovy as hell, and easily digestable (for Meshuggah). Good introduction to get into Meshuggah imo, and once you get into it, it really is something else.
Check out the band A.C.T. It's interesting and fun music with cool lyrical concepts aswell. I recommend either "a truly gifted man" or "wailings from a building".
I'll have to go back and give this one a listen again to quite recall why I called it weird but as a Jazz trumpet player who has experience in a big band and has done my fair share of improvised jazz solos I'm pretty sure I'd be able to recognize a jazz solo if I heard one 😅. Though I suppose the jazziness could just be hidden beneath the complex surface as well.
I'm a huge, huge fan of Periphery. I did a reaction to Reptile but I've since listened to P4 so there isn't any music left for me to authentically react to since I've heard their entire library.
I have the whole mix balanced around -6db - 0db. I've always felt this was a good range but I'll do some tweaking and might push it up a bit more. Thanks for the feedback.
You're totally wrong about the fretting hand of the guitarists and bassist - I covered Clockworks on the bass and can definitely say there's a lot of fretting going on. Constructive feedback, not critical.
Also yes to your observation that it’s in 4/4 and they’re accenting a different meter that eventually lines up naturally or is sometimes forced into either 8 or 16 bars of 4/4
Just discovered you and i really like your videos :D Would love to see you react to August Bruns Red - King of Sorrow. I absolutley love this band and they can put so much in just a 4 min song :D