Last March, Meshuggah let legions of headbangers know that they had begun recording a new album, and while they ultimately didn't give their latest a 2021 release, the crushing Swedish crew have now officially begun teasing a follow-up to 2016's The Violent Sleep of Reason.
A new website launched by the band teases something new arriving April 1, believed to be titled Immutable. A 39-second video found on the page features a snippet of expectedly groovy music, eventually revealing another nightmarish humanoid figure not far removed from those that adorned artwork of past LPs, like 2008's obZen or 2012's Koloss.
Excited listeners online revealed that the teaser site's URL — https://immutable.se — was revealed to them letter by letter via playing older material on Spotify. A similar streaming-centric tease was used similarly by Deftones in rolling out their 2020 album Ohms.
While Meshuggah have yet to announce details of their ninth studio album, drummer Tomas Haake offered a glimpse at the sonic direction in a recent interview with Metal Hammer, telling the publication, "Sound-wise we were going for a warmer sound this time around, less harsh mids and highs in the guitars and less abrasive cymbals etc. Getting older, you feel like 'I wanna be able to enjoy this' and not just be mauled and run over.'"
Asked to identify the "least Meshuggah-sounding moment" of the listen, guitarist Mårten Hagström offered, "When you work on an album for three years, it becomes hard to think of something that doesn't really fit into our realm. Definitely there's spots on the album where we're further away from the core of our past output, but saying there are least-Meshuggah sounding moments is basically admitting to failure. We want to be able to put our stamp on anything when we venture into music territories."
As previously reported, Meshuggah's forthcoming ninth LP will also mark the return of lead guitarist and founding member Frederik Thordendal who, as Hagström told Metal Hammer, took time away from the group beginning in 2017 to "build his studio and focus on trying to get his solo album done." In his stead, Scar Symmetry's Per Nilsson played with Meshuggah as a touring member between 2017 and 2019, handling lead guitar and backing vocals.
A new website launched by the band teases something new arriving April 1, believed to be titled Immutable. A 39-second video found on the page features a snippet of expectedly groovy music, eventually revealing another nightmarish humanoid figure not far removed from those that adorned artwork of past LPs, like 2008's obZen or 2012's Koloss.
Excited listeners online revealed that the teaser site's URL — https://immutable.se — was revealed to them letter by letter via playing older material on Spotify. A similar streaming-centric tease was used similarly by Deftones in rolling out their 2020 album Ohms.
While Meshuggah have yet to announce details of their ninth studio album, drummer Tomas Haake offered a glimpse at the sonic direction in a recent interview with Metal Hammer, telling the publication, "Sound-wise we were going for a warmer sound this time around, less harsh mids and highs in the guitars and less abrasive cymbals etc. Getting older, you feel like 'I wanna be able to enjoy this' and not just be mauled and run over.'"
Asked to identify the "least Meshuggah-sounding moment" of the listen, guitarist Mårten Hagström offered, "When you work on an album for three years, it becomes hard to think of something that doesn't really fit into our realm. Definitely there's spots on the album where we're further away from the core of our past output, but saying there are least-Meshuggah sounding moments is basically admitting to failure. We want to be able to put our stamp on anything when we venture into music territories."
As previously reported, Meshuggah's forthcoming ninth LP will also mark the return of lead guitarist and founding member Frederik Thordendal who, as Hagström told Metal Hammer, took time away from the group beginning in 2017 to "build his studio and focus on trying to get his solo album done." In his stead, Scar Symmetry's Per Nilsson played with Meshuggah as a touring member between 2017 and 2019, handling lead guitar and backing vocals.
