Meshuggah is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in 1987 in Umeå. Meshuggah is known for its use of extended polymetric passages, complex time signatures, dissonant guitar riffs, and harsh vocals. As of 2008, the band consists of vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, bassist Dick Lövgren and drummer Tomas Haake.
Meshuggah's first release was a self-titled three-song 12" vinyl EP, Meshuggah, which is commonly known as Psykisk Testbild, although that title is not printed anywhere. Only 1000 copies were released by local record store Garageland in Umeå. After signing to German heavy metal record label Nuclear Blast, Meshuggah released its debut album Contradictions Collapse in 1991. Meshuggah's second album, Destroy Erase Improve, was released in 1995.
Thordendal's side project's album, Sol Niger Within, was released in 1997, as was the next Meshuggah EP, The True Human Design. These were followed by the next full-length album, Chaosphere, in 1998.
A collection of demos (from Meshuggah) and rare recordings were released as the Rare Trax album in 2001. In 2002 the band released their next album, Nothing. Meshuggah was not satisfied with the production of the album and later re-recorded the guitars for the re-release in 2006, which also includes a bonus DVD that features the band's appearance at the Download 2005 festival, along with the official music videos for "Rational Gaze", "Shed" and "New Millennium Cyanide Christ". Meshuggah released I in 2004, a single 21-minute track, and in 2005 the band released the next full-length album, Catch Thirtythree, a 47-minute song divided up into 13 movements, the only album with programmed drums. In 2008, Meshuggah released obZen, followed by Koloss in 2012 and The Violent Sleep of Reason in 2016. Their newest album, Immutable, was released in 2022.
Studio albums TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart positionsSalesSWEFINFRAGERJPNNORSWIUKPeak chart positions for albums in the UK ObZen: Koloss and The Violent Sleep of Reason: USPeak chart positions in the United States:
Immutable on the Billboard 200: USInd.Contradictions CollapseReleased: May 1991 Label: Nuclear Blast Formats: CD, CS, LP, DL — — — — — — — — — —Destroy Erase ImproveReleased: May 12, 1995 Label: Nuclear Blast Formats: CD, CS, LP, DL 43 — — — — — — — — — US: 31,390+ChaosphereReleased: November 9, 1998 Label: Nuclear Blast Formats: CD, CS, LP, DL — — — — — — — — — — US: 35,232+ NothingReleased: August 6, 2002 Label: Nuclear Blast Formats: CD, CS, LP, DL 41 — — — — — — — 165 10 US: 110,000+Catch ThirtythreeReleased: May 31, 2005 Label: Nuclear Blast Formats: CD, LP, DL 12 — 41 — — — — — 170 13 US: 6,954+obZenReleased: March 7, 2008 Label: Nuclear Blast Formats: CD, LP, DL 16 21 23 — 177 — 11 151 59 — US: 82,000KolossReleased: March 27, 2012 Label: Nuclear Blast Formats: CD, LP, DL 12 7 20 48 88 19 39 93 17 2 US: 42,300+ The Violent Sleep of ReasonReleased: October 7, 2016 Label: Nuclear Blast Formats: CD, LP, DL 17 11 56 18 79 — 21 32 17 3 US: 18,000 in its first weekImmutableReleased: April 1, 2022 Label: Atomic Fire Formats: CD, LP, DL 3 6 74 6 106 — 6 38 115 15 US: 10,000 in its first week "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Live albums TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart positionsSalesSWEFRAGRC Alive Released: February 5, 2010 Label: Nuclear Blast Formats: CD, LP, DVD, DL 43 149 25 US: 3,000+The Ophidian Trek Released: September 26, 2014 Label: Nuclear Blast Formats: CD, DVD, BD — — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Compilation albums TitleAlbum detailsRare Trax Released: August 21, 2001 Label: Nuclear Blast Formats: CD, DL
EPs TitleEP details Peak chart positionsSWEMeshuggahReleased: February 1989 Label: Garageland —NoneReleased: November 8, 1994 Label: Nuclear Blast —SelfcagedReleased: April 11, 1995 Label: Nuclear Blast —The True Human DesignReleased: August 19, 1997 Label: Nuclear Blast —IReleased: July 13, 2004 Label: Fractured Transmitter 33Pitch BlackReleased: February 5, 2013 Label: Scion Audio/Visual — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.
Music videos SongYearDirector(s)"Abnegating Cecity" 1991 Meshuggah"Transfixion" 1995"Terminal Illusions""New Millennium Cyanide Christ" 1999"Rational Gaze" 2002 Torbjorn Oyervold"Shed" 2005 Matthias Haase"Rational Gaze"(Mr. Kidman Delirium Version) 2006 Jens Kidman"Bleed" 2008 Ian McFarlandMike Pecci"Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion" 2012 Owe Lingvall"Demiurge" Anthony Dubois"I Am Colossus" 2013 Magnus Jonsson"Clockworks" 2016 Julius Horsthuis"The Abysmal Eye" 2022 Scott Hansen"Broken Cog""I Am That Thirst""Ligature Marks" 2025 Anthony Dubois
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