Whether it’s your first or three-hundred-thirty-third time listening to this record, Obzen always stands out as one of the greatest metal albums ever written. This 2008 masterpiece provides a fantastic snapshot of Meshuggah’s oeuvre filled with rhythmic refinement, calculated intent and a ferocious mechanical power. The relentless nature of their cyclical riffs brilliantly creates a sense of samsaric dread. Infatuated with contradictions, Meshuggah uses this album to merge “obscenity” with “zen” by developing compositional forms filled with harsh brutality as well as somber contemplations. Tomas Haake’s lyric writing paints grizzly images of brain aneurysms and other sinister torments that Jen Kidman expertly roars out in his vocal performance. Fredrik Thordendal’s otherworldly and Allan Holdsworth inspired guitar leads defy gravity by flying through the dense atmosphere of Mårten Hagström’s cosmically kaleidoscopic riffs. With this wide array of musical elements, it’s time to buckle up our seatbelts as Meshuggah takes us on an interstellar trip towards the eschaton. 

After being burnt to a crisp, Meshuggah “soothe” us with cleverly composed rhythmic tapestries in “Electric Red.” They use a wider array of textural elements by dropping out into calmer “dreamy” sounding sections accompanied by complex chugging at a more subdued context before cranking back up to 11. This track’s infectious grooves might have you dancing instead of just head banging.

Meshuggah’s most famous song from their entire discography needs no introduction. Its iconic three-over-four pattern that plays nearly nonstop throughout gives the listener a Sisyphus-ian reminder of the ongoing suffering of humanity. After stewing in such torment, the pounding drums and rhythm guitars release, opening up the sonic texture into an ethereal afterlife. Floating in an airy, yet nightmarish, cloud of calm dissonance, the listener can touch the line between physical and metaphysical. That is, until the entire band slams back in full force. Thordendal takes the wheel now with his melismatic and bemoaned guitar cries of utter torment. After being reminded all hope is indeed gone, Kidman re-enters for one final round of vocal hammering to finish off this masterpiece.

After such a continuously fierce onslaught, Meshuggah follows with a song that emphasizes and amplifies in gravity. Using a form similar to “Bleed,” “Lethargica” builds to a spaced out reverie. While floating there nebulously in the deepest recesses of my mind, Meshuggah again jolts me back into their vision of an apocalypse. Instead of a guitar solo like the last track, Lethargica drops back in with one of the thickest breakdowns in metal history that can only be rivaled by their live version of the track, where they reduce the tempo even further, creating the sonic equivalent of a massive black hole.

With our nervous systems thoroughly primed and firing from picking up such a gratuitously heavy song, Meshuggah coerces the listener to max out further by lifting yet another gargantuan number. Emerging with the density of a dying star, “Obzen” comes through as one of grooviest tracks on the album continuing the monstrous flow of compositions that keep your toes tapping, fists pumping, and head nodding.

This brooding number emulates its serpentine title by unraveling and coiling deviously into a false stop in the middle, tricking the listener into thinking the ride is over. However, Meshuggah strikes with a cobra-like sneak attack. Brilliantly uptempo and angular riffs accompany a frenzied solo by Thordendal that unveils hidden reptilian truths, shedding light on “Reality!!!”

Piggy backing off of “This Spiteful Snake,” “Pineal Gland Optics” weaves its way forward at an equally intimidating pace, keeping the listener engaged, no, trapped in a never ending sense of rhythmic juggling. Maniacal guitar melodies written by Thordendal traverse octaves. Though displaced across the musical staff, his separated musical leaps tell a dark melodic narrative. It winds down with a boomy riff sequence that fades us away into the darkness.

Light emerges in the form of an electrifying and explosive start. Deliberate and cataclysmic guitar picking push this composition along. Hagström’s writing on this penultimate track creates an overarching sense of pulsating doom. It ends with absolutely crushing rhythmic patterns and lyrics that cast the listener asunder into utter despair. Is this the end?

Ominously approaching like a final boss, “Dancers to a Discordant System” provides the closing act to this monstrous album. It opens in the cold dark with mysterious long notes. A nimble and frenetic guitar line soon accompanies them, bouncing in seemingly unpredictable ways. When Haake finally enters with his dramatic drumming, the underlying rhythmic meter becomes apparent, producing a trapped quality to the once free sounding opening guitar sequence. Kidman switches from his standard mechanical bark style yell to a haunted harsh whisper style vocal in the verses that create a sinister sense of direness to his messages. As the song builds, murmurs return to fierce screaming proclamations. Thordendal’s closing guitar solo casts out a desperately tormented plea for help, before the entire band swallows him whole. Meshuggah ends this track and album with a fade out that sentences the listener to an eternity bound to their rhythmic Merry-go-round of torture.