Year : 1991
Genre : Thrash Metal
Label : Nuclear Blast Records
Origin : Sweden
Rating : 9.1 / 10
Buy the Deluxe Edition now
It probably is very easy to overlook the first full length affair of Sweden's Meshuggah, as this 1991 massively thrash contribution can not even be regarded as a spiritual precursor of what the music of said band has evolved to via their later operations that forms the face of metal to this very moment.
General consensus seems to be ultra-tepid and unacceptably deformed regarding the disc, as, despite my valiant efforts, I have failed to find and read a review that seems to reckon the delivery for what it really sounds to be. In other words : the 'fuck is up with you people? If not a single person is willing to rearrange related reality, then allow Yours, Truly to do so armed with an agenda and scientific rigor.
Meshuggah's Contradiction Collapse is doubtless influenced by a particularly good looking/angry image of early Metallica, but you would need to be supremely biased, I think, to fail to notice that this formation of youngsters - the Meshuggah dudes are in their early twenties by the era of the disc - are delivering a pretty much impertinently mature and complete variant of thrash metal which, to THIS very day emerges galaxies more relevant than say, the cartoon thrash metal of the latest to date Megadeth album, let alone the pinball road-motor sport "thrash metal" rhetorics - synonym : antics - of the latest to date Overkill series of facial ticks. Read on to find out more about this release, that packs infinitely more capacity to kick your ass to hell and back than you ever thought it does.
Foolishly, I did not really anticipate "all that much" from this musical package, and I definitely did not expect to be surprised by it. Though the following may sound trite, I still tend to think that the album probably has came into existence with a pretty unfortunate timing to lock unto it, amidst the colliding tides of Metallica's legendary Black album and Guns 'N Roses' double penetration Use Your Illusions, stimulating interest only in the most devoted thrash aficionado that has found herself/himself silently disgusted by the (relatively) new found mainstream success of said acts. If people buy your records, you are not the underground anymore. I'm the undergound, bitches.
The Contradictions Collapse LP is one of the most intriguing and most diligently/meticulously realized thrash metal affairs that I have heard so far, and the reason for this does not equate with the theoretic conjecture that I might have not heard any other than this at all. That would be kinna absurd, correct? Seriously, if you are any kind of a thrash metal enthusiast, do yourself a favor and check out this album again, after more than 20 years after its release, because the music on it, as I said, and I do not mind to reiterate my claim, is as legit thrash metal music as you ever hoped to hear. Let's discuss its favorite pastimes and its primordial key anatomy.
The early-, thrash-centered Meshuggah shows no concerns nor the promise of those for orthodox song structures, quite the contrary : the release SEEMS to be the magnificent, ruthless, rebellious rejection of the dominance of trusty/steady compositional patterns. SEEMINGLY. In reality, it is such a devoted worshiper of it, that it does not mind having to worship orthodoxy into madness-level complexity and back. The flow of things is the relentless-, superbly and meticulously varied exhibition of flawlessly mature and - logically enough - totally competent inner image of thrash metal, which not for a single second shows weaknesses or any tint of noticeable caution.
The disc is crystal clear Titanium Thrash Thought, period. (Give yourself a "Thorough" at the end if you find alliterations arousing.)
The music is so strong and so uncompromisingly and diligently well varied along its fine thrash-fixations, that you can only absorb relatively small amounts of it - if you are truly serious about listening to it, that is. I have hinted at the notion that the songs deliberately lack the prominently presented structures, and, while I still claim that the anatomy of the entries is on the verge of constant technical breaks and relentless thrash riffage that is out there chasing its own variations with superb efficiency, a certain kind of very "tasteful will" to iterate is STILL present in the overall sum of things, an attribute that manifests in the hook work of the songs. Hell, these hooks are ultra-sublime, I must say. You can forget about the usual method of hook creation - like, in the great Stone Sour song "Mission Statement", and its chorus : "Iiiii am in your haaaands, I don't mind, 'cuz I don't understaaaaand" - hopefully the song is not being sung by a dick. On Contradictions Collapse, the hook, as Institute, is spectacular in my opinion, because it refuses to grow intoxicated by its own charms, and refrains from offering compliments to itself, with the hilarious conclusion that it never lasts for more than a few seconds, but those few seconds are fantastic peak moments. Like in the track "Abnegating Cecity" : the ultra-brief yet ultra-sexy central hook is composed of three thrillingly descending chordal forms played with gang shouts on them, and it is more efficient and more significant in my book than the entire new Overkill album, but this is the last time that I pick on Overkill. (This month.)
The sound of the first Meshuggah LP is the sound of cybernetic thrash metal from hell. Jens Kidman brings an ethos of vocal administration that reeks a prime James Hetfield from top to bottom, only, Jens renders a deliberately and relentlessly neurotic protagonist character, so, basically he sounds like top form Mr. Hetfield being in a constant nervous breakout. If you think it would sound b4d4ss, you are right about that. I especially dig the sober-, hefty, yet carefully controlled production values of the LP. It sounds like a beefed up, ripped out variant of the SOUND of late '80s, early '90s thrash to me, though I won't try to market myself as the premiere Scholar on how the epitome of said eras should register as when thrashing the listener into a nearby wall for increased fun value. But, anyway, the sound of Contradictions Collapse emerges as something not being content with "simply" giving you the message, it is quite serious about punching it into your receptors with sonic jackhammers, too. The music, on the other hand, is never becomes its own parody, as, in my opinion, Deathcore is prone to, most of the time. The elements of the music are all clearly audible, you can hear the monstrous, tight, wide bass reigning in the center, complimented by ultra-competent-, and ridiculously richly varied thrash riffage. In case you did not yet catch the drift, Eugene, then let me remind you tamely that the ridiculously richly varied thrash riffage is what the package really is all about in its intents - that which all is served to you with very luscious drumming, showing simultaneous readiness to exhibit an icy and a lush character, whatever the need dictates at the given musical moment.
I'm not entirely sure yet if my percept regarding the exceptional level of thrash metal colorfulness obtainable on this disc has already been expressed in verbal fashion AND thoroughly or not. So, know the following : general consensus did not seem to know jackshit about this significant disc prior to this awesometicularmegalucious review. If you are a thrash fan, then have no doubt whatsoever that the contribution is a super-serious-, superheavyweight thrash metal album that exhibits not a second in vain or in cluelessness that I'd be aware of-, or could catch it on. Don't belive the "meh" regarding this disc. Investigate it for yourself, because it highly deserves it.
The Deluxe edition re-issue comes with the addition of the notorious None EP, and, if you include that in the fray, then the disc weighs in as an overall full body full psyche thrash treatment that will turn even the most diligent fan into purple astral pulp, trust me. Nuclear Blast gives you a superb deal with the Deluxe edition, and you, in my opinion, are truly missing out if you are a thrash metal fan and decide to not approach this LP with the curiosity it timelessly (!) deserves. Ladies and midgets, top of the foodchain TIMELESS thrash metal from 1991, and also one of the most underrated releases that grace the face of consensus. If you are a thrash metal fan, and you think you know this release, but you are not entirely sure secretly, then now is the time to check it out immediately.
1991 or not, hell, this right here still is The Shit you are looking for, thrasher.
Rating : 9.1 / 10
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