Meshuggah – “The Violent Sleep of Reason” [Album Review]

Jun! Julun ju ju!
Julun jun jun jun jun…
Julun jun jun jun jun!
Julun jun jun jun jun!
Julun jun jun jun jun!
Julun jun! …and repeat.

That’s what the first bars of “Born in Dissonance” sound like to me off Meshuggah’s latest effort Violent Sleep of Reason. I can’t say anything new about this band and their spectacular discography that hasn’t been said before. “Born in Dissonance” continues where Koloss left off by fucking you senseless, or if you’re not into the rough stuff, making tantric love to your senses and psyche to the point of lethargy.

In their 30th year of existence, this band is nothing short of a well-seasoned, heavy metal orchestra. They don’t write songs, they compose. Upon reading some of the notes about the making of Violent Sleep of Reason, I learned that it was all live takes. Huh? Being a musician myself, I don’t even know how to process this! They also hinted that the playing was sloppy stating it was “less perfect”. Go ahead you audiophile purist Nazis, go ahead and try to find the finger fudges! I dare you!

Some of the standout tracks, other than the aforementioned “Born in Dissonance”, are “By The Ton” (which is what I would imagine what an extraterrestrial language would sound like) and “Nostrum”, for everything you would come to expect a Meshuggah composition to sound like… the aftermath of a shotgun blast hitting a planet-sized hornet’s nest. Now that’s heavy…

The Violent Sleep of Reason Track Listing:

01. Clockworks
02. Born in Dissonance
03. MonstroCity
04. By The Ton
05. Violent Sleep of Reason
06. Ivory Tower
07. Stifled
08. Nostrum
09. Our Rage Won’t Die
10. Into Decay

Run Time: 59:20
Release Date: October 7, 2016

Check out the song “Nostrum”