MESHUGGAH, Animals As Leaders @Slade Rooms 13/4/2012

In large part this blog owes its inception to Animals as Leaders.

It was while watching them last September at the Academy as they opened for US prog-thrash noiseniks Between The Buried And Me that I sat there thinking, “I would like to tell people how good they were.” And RTM was born a couple of weeks later.

And now, six months later they are back. Magnificent second album “Weightless” is in the bag and they are supporting Meshuggah on this Euro trek. I am happy to report that their stunning performance with BTBAM was no flash in the pan, and that AAL were stunning tonight.

The fretwork of guitarist and band leader Tosin Abasi is what has built the groups following, and there is no doubt that he is magnificent, but for RTM’s money the true skill of the three-piece is that you don’t miss the lyrics.

With most instrumental bands (think Karma to Burn) the riff gets played and you think of lyrics in your head, however good that riff is. But with Animals as Leaders, Abasi’s work is such that you lose yourself in his monstrous soundscapes. If you haven’t seen this band live, move heaven and earth until you do.

It has been interesting to chart the rise and rise of Meshuggah over the last few years. They have gone from an critically acclaimed – but relatively obscure – Swedish technical thrash band to the heads of a “scene.”

It’s the patronage of the metal magazines, in particular Metal Hammer who practically invented “djent,” that probably accounts for the fact that the Slade Rooms is rammed tonight, but none of that would matter if the songs didn’t match up. ‘Shuggah, thankfully, have no problems in that area, new album Koloss is a crushingly brilliant affair, as was ObZen before it.

It is the new album that most concerns the group tonight. Indeed, they kick off with one of its tracks in “Demiurge” and play five more during the course of their 100 minutes onstage, including a heavy-as-hell rendition of “I Am Colossus.” There is a brief interlude while “Minds Mirrors” is played, before they return for an epic “In Death,” before the main set closes with “Rational Gaze.”

The group are technically flawless with singer Jens Kidman and guitarist Fredrik Thordendal impressive, although it is perhaps sticksman Thomas Haake who emerges with most credit, keeping the punishing beat going for as long as he does.

By the time “Koloss’” closing instrumental “The Last Vigil” has played us out there is a feeling that you have been bludgeoned for an hour and three quarters. There is a suspicion too that, for all their obvious brilliance Meshuggah aren't the most exciting of live acts, that they could do with some light amongst the shade and that this gig is more a recital than a viscerally exciting thrash show.

But not every band can be as experimental and diverse as Dream Theater, say, and not every band needs a light show like Kiss. Sometimes mere songs and the outstanding ability to play those songs live is enough, and on those fronts Meshuggah delivered tonight and then some.