A rare tracks album by Meshuggah. What on Earth can be wrong with that? Well, nothing I guess! There’s nothing wrong with a glimpse into the demos and early recordings that led Meshuggah in the past 13 years to the title of “one of the most important hard and heavy bands”. One of the things you will find back on this CD is Meshuggah’s first album, first released without a title but later called “Phykisk Testbild” (’89). This little piece of vinyl has become some kind of “Holy Grail” for the dedicated fans, as only 1.000 copies were pressed. Was it worth to break your piggy bank for that? I listened to “Cadaverous Mastication”, “Sovereigns Morbity” and “Debt of Nature”, all taken from this EP. The sound reminds me of the old days of Metallica, the period during “Kill ‘m All”. Those days James wasn’t that much of a singer, but they managed to play solid, straight forward and unforgettable metal music. And became one of the biggest inspirations, apart from the Beatles of course, for present day Rock Artists. I’m pretty sure that Meshuggah also have been deeply influenced by them in their early recordings. It shows! But as the years go by, this little caterpillar became a butterfly of beauty you will seldom see.

Meshuggah became the king of diversity and complexity, very often against the grain but always grooving. Where hardcore meets metal and rock flirts with symphonic, that’s where you’ll find their unique style. You can find all this back in “By Emptyness Abducted” and “Don’t Speak” even though they made this songs during “just some free studio time”. The demo versions of “Abnegating Cecity” and “Internal Evidence” have bit more speed and playfulness than the album version (from “Contradictions Collapse”). Which makes the songs even better! To put some jam on your donut you can also find a rare birthday present, the video for “New Millenium Cyanide Christ”, the live video for “Elastic” and some tour and studio clips. Not a bad treat! The only thing I would like to delete from the CD is track 10 “Ayahhasca Experience”, it totally freaks me out. And this is not meant in a positive way! As you can see, I didn’t rate this album. As a matter of fact it doesn’t bring you something new. But as a true Meshuggah fan it might have been something you have been waiting for for a very long time….