The House of Blues in Boston was treated to a special show last night as Swedish metal pioneers Meshuggah brought their 25 Years of Musical Deviance tour to town with absolutely spectacular results.
While Meshuggah celebrated a huge milestone as a band with this tour, I celebrated a personal milestone as the opening act for this tour, Between the Buried and Me, became the first band that I've ever seen 10 times live. It's hardly surprising that BTBM was the first band to reach this milestone as they've been one of my favorite bands since Colors was released in 2007 and I've only missed two of their tours that have come to Massachusetts since October 2008. This landmark performance was unsurprisingly yet another spectacular show put on by Between the Buried and Me. Even after seeing them so many times, their musical precision still manages to amaze me. This setlist in particular really showed off their chops with "White Walls", "Telos" and arguably their most technically impressive track, "Ants of the Sky", making up 3/5 of their hour-long opening set. These tracks are not only some of the most musically impressive songs in their catalog, they are amongst their best songs period. It was especially a pleasure to see "Telos" live since I had only seen them play it once on Summer Slaughter two years ago. The piano-driven mid-section is right up there with the final 5 minutes of "White Walls", the bass solo in "Disease, Injury, Madness" and the guitar solo in "Selkies: The Endless Obsession" as one of the most striking portions of any of their tracks in a live setting. With a band that is as complex and strange as BTBAM, I'm always curious to see how they get received as an opening act. During the previous 4 times I'd seen them as an opener, the crowd was either polarized (The Cool Tour, Coheed and Cambria) or went absolutely nuts (Children of Bodom, In Flames) for them. Thankfully, last night was in the former camp. A fair number of people even seemed to be there exclusively for BTBAM; as they got just as raucous of a response as Meshuggah did. Seeing Between the Buried and Me is always a special experience and I look forward to continuing to go see them every time I get the opportunity to.
After a half-hour wait to accommodate numerous banners and a more elaborate stage setup than usual to commemorate their 25th anniversary, Meshuggah took the stage then proceeded to rip the faces off everyone in the audience for the next 90 minutes. I don't know if it was because I was standing closer to the stage or the illness I was battling at the time altered my state of mind, but Meshuggah was somehow MUCH heavier than the first time I saw them. Not since the first time I saw Dying Fetus in 2011 have I been that blown away with how skull-crushingly heavy a band is in a live setting. The use of 8-string guitars and incredibly loud, powerful drums makes Meshuggah a unique force to be reckoned with.In addition to being much heavier, Meshuggah had a much better setlist than the first time I saw them. Fan favorites "Future Breed Machine" and "New Millennium Cyanide Christ" were surprisingly left out of the set the previous time I saw them so it was great to get the chance to finally see them. "Future Breed Machine" was an exceptional opener that perfectly while "New Millennium Cyanide Christ" was one of the single heaviest live songs I've ever seen. The fact that this tour is celebrating their 25th anniversary as a band gave Meshuggah a chance to dust off some rare tunes from their 1991 debut full-length Contradictions Collapse. Having not heard that record before, I was really surprised by how different that material was from the trademark progressive, groove-laden sound Meshuggah has become known for over the years. Both tracks ("Greed" and "Cadaverous Mastication") they played from Contradictions Collapse, were still heavy as shit, but they were faster and thrashier than anything they've done since. This early material being present in the set was a nice touch that exposed a side of Meshuggah that I previously didn't know about. One thing that was exactly the same as the last time I saw Meshuggah was the intensity of vocalist Jens Kidman. The way he stalks the stage is unlike anything I've ever seen before. He looks like he's ready to kill someone at anytime when he's performing and his vocals perfectly match the fierce presence he has on stage. Meshuggah is a band who's power and knack for crushing riffs and atmosphere isn't fully appreciated until you see them live. Their live shows are a big part of the reason they've enjoyed such a longevity and built such an iconic reputation in the scene. Here's to another 25 years of Meshuggah!
Scores:
Between the Buried and Me 10/10
Meshuggah 9/10
Setlists:
Between the Buried and Me:
White Walls
Telos
Ants of the Sky
Lay Your Ghosts to Rest
Fossil Genera-A Feed from Cloud Mountain
Meshuggah:
Future Breed Machine
obZen
The Hurt That Finds You First
Do Not Look Down
Cadaverous Mastication
Greed
Gods of Rapture
Neurotica
New Millennium Cyanide Christ
Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion
Bleed
Demiruge
Straws Pulled at Random
Encore:
(Mind's Mirrors)
In Life-Is Life
In Life-Is Death
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