(May 16, 2008) — For fans of experimental, heavy and extremely complex music, Meshuggah is a familiar name. Meshuggah is a Swedish experimental metal band started in the early 90s, quickly making a name for themselves with the use of eight-string guitars, constantly changing time signatures that make even the most seasoned musicians feel feint, harsh vocals and unconventional drum beats. Since their first album, Contradictions Collapse, Meshuggah has developed their sound and continued to release some of the most technical albums in any genre. Their latest release, obZen, continues their style of songwriting and shows that Meshuggah is still going strong. The album starts off with “Combustion,” an aggressive and complex song that lets listeners know right from the start what to expect from the rest of the album. The earth-shatteringly low guitars are immediately noticeable, as well as Jens Kidman’s powerful vocal style. These vocals remain constant throughout the album, although the last song, “Dancers to a Discordant System,” does offer a break with less harsh vocals during the song. The guitar highlight of the album is “Bleed,” which offers a mind-boggling pattern of triplets throughout the song, courtesy of guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström. Songs like this make you wonder how Meshuggah comes up with such complex riffs, and how they successfully play them live. My only real complaint with obZen is the fact that it isn’t very different from previous albums. Their music has pretty much remained consistent throughout their career. However, due to the nature of their music, there isn’t really a recognizable template for their songs. This album continues Meshuggah’s usual polyrythmic, ridiculously complex style of music, which is exactly what makes it appealing. Their style has not changed, but with their music remaining some of the most original and compplex metal around, that’s nothing to complain about. For anyone looking to break the mold of modern mainstream music, or anyone interested in musical theory looking for a mind-bendingly complex array of songs that are never predictable, obZen is definitely worth the money.