I am not exactly certain if it is high praise or damning praise to claim that Poland’s Neurothing is the best Meshuggah rip-off band that I have heard yet since younger bands have begun to integrate the stylings of the Swedish veterans in earnest, but Neurothing’s full-length debut,
Murder Book, is a sonic-boom of a good time, as their note-for-note Jens Kidman vocalization, polyrhythmic, off-timed, and down-tuned song compositions, as well as their ballistics-precise drumming and cymbal work (I especially love the china-symbol crashes as punctuation [again, a Meshuggah precedent]) is, while delightfully unoriginal, the
epitome of groove-enhanced heaviness. Essentially, the album mimics the DNA of Meshuggah’s 1990s albums
None,
Destroy Erase Improve, and
Chaosphere. So, if, like me, you cannot get enough of Meshuggah (or anything remotely Meshuggah
esque), this album was designed for
you as the perfect audience. However, if Neurothing can devise in the future an identity that is substantively distinct from their obvious influence and unofficial mentor, Neurothing could wind up influencing a new generation of artists, instead of merely mimetically existing. But if they don't, well, at least they will medicinally ease the pain of waiting for the next Meshuggah album. The album’s standout tracks include “High Pain Threshold,” “My Cell,” and “Kill It.”
I am not exactly certain if it is high praise or damning praise to claim that Poland’s Neurothing is the best Meshuggah rip-off band that I have heard yet since younger bands have begun to integrate the stylings of the Swedish veterans in earnest, but Neurothing’s full-length debut, Murder Book, is a sonic-boom of a good time, as their note-for-note Jens Kidman vocalization, polyrhythmic, off-timed, and down-tuned song compositions, as well as their ballistics-precise drumming and cymbal work (I especially love the china-symbol crashes as punctuation [again, a Meshuggah precedent]) is, while delightfully unoriginal, the epitome of groove-enhanced heaviness. Essentially, the album mimics the DNA of Meshuggah’s 1990s albums None, Destroy Erase Improve, and Chaosphere. So, if, like me, you cannot get enough of Meshuggah (or anything remotely Meshuggahesque), this album was designed for you as the perfect audience. However, if Neurothing can devise in the future an identity that is substantively distinct from their obvious influence and unofficial mentor, Neurothing could wind up influencing a new generation of artists, instead of merely mimetically existing. But if they don't, well, at least they will medicinally ease the pain of waiting for the next Meshuggah album. The album’s standout tracks include “High Pain Threshold,” “My Cell,” and “Kill It.”