Meshuggah
Koloss

November 2012
Released: 2012, Nuclear Blast
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Metal-Rules.com UK Team

Honestly, I am stumped when it comes to this album, as tt delivers so much more than what I was expecting. After the last album Obzen, I thought this was going to be one of those 'we’ve had our major success now for a crappy album' but I was proven completely and utterly wrong.

In this case it’s a 'we’ve had a great success now for another great release!'



The moment the album starts you get a massive kick in the face letting you know just who your listening to, and there is no mistaking it from the get go. I found myself listening to the album over and over again and not entirely because of how good it is either.



I found that some parts of the album were either so good, so long or put me into a trance, so much so that I spaced out for much of the album. I think this is both good and band. I mean the fact that such a heavy band can relax me in such a way is amazing, but then you need to look at the other facts; those being that some of the songs are way too long, some parts get a bit repetitive and you lose interest but as far as I can hear, those are the only downfalls to this album.



I do have to confess I am infact a fan of this band in general, so I may be a bit biased?! Koloss reminds me a lot of an earlier album of Meshuggah’s, that being, Destroy Erase Improve but not because of how similar they are but instead of how completely different they are.

Destroy Erase Improve was my first experience of Meshuggah and it was amazing, but when I listened to the album, I was left feeling confused. The drums were so syncopated that I wasn’t sure when to head bang or not. With Koloss you will have no such problem. Head banging to this album will come as naturally as breathing.



Now to actually get into the details of the album... it’s got everything you could ever ask for; The rough growl of Kidman, soul destroying brutality of Haake’s pounding on the drums and the precision of both Thordendal & Hagström with the Genius that is Lövgren on bass. Everything about these guys is precise and well perfect.



This album offers up everything you could ever ask for and more its brutal, creative and heavy as you could want it. Definitely worth a buy, if not at the very least a long listen.



Review by Jed Taylor