Search - Meshuggah :: Rare Trax

2 stars for 2 songs

Jeff "Lewis" Steverson | Rochester, NY | 04/09/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Necessary for Meshuggah fans but hardly worth the price, Rare Trax is a disparate collection of unreleased and (really) old Meshuggah songs that, in some cases, should not have been removed from the studio vaults. There are, however, two marginally good Meshuggah songs back to back on the disc (I'll let you figure out which songs I mean), and combined with the sheer curiosity of some of the other tracks, they make this album worth owning if Meshuggah is one of your favorite bands--and they are one of my favorite bands, hence my owning the disc. But to a casual listener: beware! Stick to Destroy Erase Improve."

Die-Hard Fans of Meshuggah Must Own This

Mono-Grind | Here | 04/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is a collection of unreleased and remixed versions of Meshuggah songs, from Chaosphere all the way back to their first ever release back in 1989, "Psykisk Testbild". For long-time fans of Meshuggah, this is a must own for exactly that reason. It's near impossible to find those early songs from 1989, so this is really the only place to get them or hear them.



Those tracks from 1989 are "Cadaverous Mastication" (Which is a slower version of the song you hear on their first LP, 'Contradictions Collapse'..), "Sovereigns Morbidity" and "Debt of Nature". And they're very good tracks too. Although, of course, not sounding as perfectly mixed and produced as their newer material.



The first song "War" is a very fast song, that starts off quickly and really doesn't let up. It's fast, thrashy and brutal throughout the whole song. I've read also that the drums were programmed by Thordendal and Haake, among others. The songs "Don't Speak" and "By Emptiness Abducted", were recorded in 1996, inbetween the albums "Destroy, Erase, Improve" and "Chaosphere". "Don't Speak" is the more brutal song, of the two, and could have easily fit onto the album "Destroy, Erase, Improve" if only they wrote it earlier.



"Abnegating Cecity" and "Internal Evidence" were recorded in late 1990. And they're the first recordings in fact, with Tomas Haake on drums. And these versions, being demo-versions, are the only place you'll really ever hear these two songs. They were later re-recorded for "Contradictions Collapse" in 1991. A particular highlight is the insane solo's on "Abnegating Cecity", and on "Internal Evidence" at around 3:30mins into the song, it all slows down to a typical (At the time) Meshuggah grinding riff.



"The Ayahuasca Experience" was recorded in 1993. It's really hard to explain what sort of..song..(if thats what you want to call it)..it is. It's hard to describe it as it sounds like random noise. It can get tedious after a few listens too. They write in the booklet you get with this CD, that they forget when or how this was recorded. And they also say.. "Vocals by many, Instruments by few". Which should give you a pretty good idea of what it sounds like.



I personally think the highlight on this album is the "Concatenation Slomo Remix". It also has programmed drumming on it, but the riffs are so slowed down..if listened to up loud on good speakers it'll really make your room shake. It's that heavy. And you can just pick out the parts of the original, very fast-paced, "Concatenation" too. To me, this song is easily the greatest on here.



So basically, if you're a longtime - die hard fan of Meshuggah, you really need this in your collection. It's truly a great buy, and you'll honestly have a hard time trying to find some of the versions of these great songs anywhere else."