Meshuggah

**Meshuggah** is an extreme metal band from Umeå, Sweden. The band was also named **Metallien**. The band has been playing music since 1985. Meshuggah's music uses changing time signatures and polyrhythms. The band inspired djent, a genre of metal. They made many new sounds using the guitar. The band's current members are singer Jens Kidman, guitar players Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, drummer Tomas Haake and bass guitar player Dick Lövgren.

Meshuggah has been nominated for Grammis two times: once for _Catch Thirtythree_, and once for _obZen_. In 2018, the band was nominated for a Grammy Award for their song "Clockworks". All of the band's albums after _Nothing_ have been on the _Billboard 200_ music chart.

### Band starts and _Contradictions Collapse_ (1987–1994)

In 1985, guitarist Fredrik Thordendal started a band in Umeå. The band was named Metallien. Metallien made many demo tapes. After they made these demos, the band ended. Thordendal used the band's name while playing music with other people.

Meshuggah was made in 1987 by singer and guitarist Jens Kidman. He named it "Meshuggah" because the word means "crazy" in Yiddish. The band recorded many demos. It broke up after Kidman left. Kidman made a new band named Calipash. It had Thordendal as a guitarist. It also had bassist Peter Nordin and drummer Niklas Lundgren. Kidman and Thordendal decided to rename the band to Meshuggah.

In 1989, Meshuggah released an extended play (EP) with three songs. It was named _Meshuggah_. It is also known as _Psykisk Testbild_. The band made 1,000 vinyl copies of the EP. The copies were sold at a local music store. In 1990, drummer Tomas Haake replaced Niklas Lundgren.

Meshuggah joined Nuclear Blast. Nuclear Blast was a German heavy metal record label. They made their first album, _Contradictions Collapse_, in 1991. Many people liked the album, but it did not sell many copies. Kidman stopped playing guitar for the band. He wanted to focus on singing. Mårten Hagström joined the band to play guitar instead. He was one of Haake's friends. The band made an EP named _None_ in 1994. They also made a Japanese version of _None._

Thordendal was working as a carpenter. He cut off the tip of his left middle finger in an accident. Haake also hurt his hand in an accident. Because of this, the band could not play music for many months. Thordendal had surgery to put his fingertip back on. The finger healed. Meshuggah recorded an EP named _Selfcaged_ in 1994. They released it in 1995 because of the injuries.

### _Destroy Erase Improve_ (1995–1997)

In January 1995, Meshuggah went on a European concert tour. After the tour, the band made _Destroy Erase Improve_. This was their second album. After making the album, the band went on another European tour with Machine Head. During the tour, Nordin had balance problems because of his inner ear. This made him very dizzy. Because of it, Nordin went back to Sweden. Machine Head's bassist, Adam Duce, offered to play bass for Meshuggah when Nordin was gone. The band did not want him to. They kept playing music with only four members. Hagström used a pitch shifter for the rest of the tour to make his guitar sound lower.

The album was released in May 1995. Critics liked the album. One said that the album was the "work of highly skilled men with powerful instruments".

Later in 1995, Meshuggah went on tour with Swedish band Clawfinger. Nordin had to leave the band because of his dizziness. Gustaf Hielm replaced him. The band went on another tour in late 1995 with Hypocrisy. In 1997, the band moved to Stockholm to be closer to their record label.

Meshuggah made an EP named _The True Human Design_ in late 1997. It had one new song named "Sane". The other tracks were different versions of the song "Future Breed Machine" from _Destroy Erase Improve_. Thordendal also released his own album. It was named _Sol Niger Within_. At the end of the year, Meshuggah started planning their next album.

### _Chaosphere_ and _Nothing_ (1998–2002)

In May 1998, the band said that their next album would be named _Chaosphere_. Meshuggah recorded music for the album in May and June. The band went on a tour in the United States. They released the album in November 1998. _Chaosphere_ had less thrash metal music on it. This was because the band wanted to make groovier music. In early 1999, Meshuggah went with Slayer on an American tour.

After the concerts and new album, many popular heavy metal magazines wrote about Meshuggah. The band started to write new music in 2000. They said that work was going "slowly". When they were making their next album, Meshuggah released _Rare Trax_. This was many songs the band did not release. It also had music from the _Meshuggah_ EP. Hielm left the band in July 2001. Meshuggah joined Tool on a long concert tour. They played music for over 100,000 people.

_Chaosphere_ was recorded in five to six weeks in May 2002. The band decided to play at Ozzfest (a music festival). This made the band have to produce the album in only three days. After recording the album, Meshuggah went on an American tour.

The album _Nothing_ was released in August 2002. It sold over 6,000 copies in its first week of being sold. It reached number 165 on the _Billboard_ 200. Meshuggah was the first member of Nuclear Blast that went onto the _Billboard_ 200 music chart. The compact disc version of _Nothing_ has no words on it except for _ingenting_. This means _nothing_ in Swedish. At the end of 2002, the band went on another tour with Tool. They also went on their own tour.

### _Catch Thirtythree_ and _obZen_ (2003–2009)

In February 2004, bassist Dick Lövgren joined Meshuggah. The band released an EP named _I._ The EP only has one song on it, and it is 21 minutes long. The band took six months to make the EP. In May 2005, the band released the album _Catch Thirtythree_. It is the only Meshuggah album that has programmed drums on it. Seven thousand copies of the album were sold in the first week. It went to number 170 on the _Billboard_ 200. The band was nominated for a Swedish Grammy for the album. They made a music video for the song "Shed" in June 2005.

Meshuggah released a remixed version of _Nothing_ in October 2006. The remix also had a DVD with videos of the band playing live, as well as the band's music videos for "Shed", "Rational Gaze", and "New Millenium Cyanide Christ".

In March 2007, the band started making _obZen._ They finished the album in October, and released it in March 2008. Most of the time the band took making the album was used to learn how to play the music they wrote. It was the longest time they had ever taken to make an album. _obZen_ reached number 59 on the _Billboard_ 200 music chart. It sold 50,000 copies after six months. After releasing the album, the band went on a world tour. They played in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

In January 2009, _obZen_ was nominated for a Swedish Grammy award. However, it did not win. Haake said the band was planning on making another album. In April, Meshuggah had to cancel the concerts they were going to play at. This was because Haake had a herniated disc in his spine. He got surgery for it, and the band was able to play music in the summer.

### _Koloss,_ _The Violent Sleep of Reason,_ and _Immutable_ (2010–present)

The band's seventh album, _Koloss_, was released in March 2012. It reached number 17 on the _Billboard_ Top 200, and number 12 in Sweden.

In February 2013, Meshuggah released an EP with two songs on it. It was named _Pitch Black_. The extended play has a song on it named "Pitch Black" which was made by Thordendal in 2003. The other song on the EP is a live recording of "Dancers to a Discordant System" from _obZen_. On May 12, 2016, Meshuggah put a video on YouTube saying their next album would be released in 2016. Later, the band said the album was named _The Violent Sleep of Reason_. It was released in October 2016, and reached number 17 on the _Billboard_ 200.

In June 2017, the band said that Thordendal was taking a break from touring. He would be replaced with guitarist Per Nilsson from Scar Symmetry. In 2018, Meshuggah was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for their song "Clockworks".

In March 2021, Thordendal came back to the band so they could work on a new album. They released their ninth album, _Immutable_, on April 1, 2022.

## Style

Meshuggah plays many different types of metal music. Many music critics have said their music is experimental metal. It has also been called groove metal, alternative metal, extreme metal, and progressive metal.

The band has a unique way of playing metal music. They use many complex music styles, such as playing with polyrhythms, polymeters, and changing key and tempo. This makes the music very difficult to play. Hagström has said that "it doesn't really matter if something is hard to play or not. The thing is, what does it do to your mind when you listen to it? Where does it take you?" Meshuggah uses many different polymeters. In some songs, the guitars play in 17/16 (a difficult meter), while the drums are in 4/4 (a common meter). Hagström has said that "everything we do is based around a 4/4 core". He said the band plays "parts differently around that center to make it seem like something else is going on."

### Current members

- Jens Kidman – singer
- Fredrik Thordendal – lead guitar, supporting singer
- Tomas Haake – drums, spoken vocals
- Mårten Hagström – rhythm guitar, supporting singer
- Dick Lövgren – bass

## Studio albums

- 1991: _Contradictions Collapse_
- 1995: _Destroy Erase Improve_
- 1998: _Chaosphere_
- 2002: _Nothing_
- 2005: _Catch Thirtythree_
- 2008: _obZen_
- 2012: _Koloss_
- 2016: _The Violent Sleep of Reason_
- 2022: _Immutable_

## Other websites

- Meshuggah's official website
- Meshuggah  at MySpace
- Meshuggah at Allmusic

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **name**: Meshuggah
- **img**: Meshuggah 2008 Melbourne 2.jpg
- **img capt**: Meshuggah performing live
- **img size**: 250
- **landscape**: yes
- **background**: group_or_band
- **alias**: Metallien (1985-1987)
- **origin**: Umeå, Sweden
- **years active**: 1985–present
- **label**: Nuclear Blast
Fractured Transmitter
Atomic Fire
- **url**: [http://www.meshuggah.net/ www.meshuggah.net]
- **current members**: Jens Kidman
Fredrik Thordendal
Mårten Hagström
Tomas Haake
Dick Lövgren
- **past members**: Johan Sjögren
Jörgen Lindmark
Per Sjögren
Torbjörn Granström
Niklas Lundgren
Peter Nordin
Gustaf Hielm