CoC : Meshuggah - Raretrax : Review

Meshuggah - _Raretrax_
(Nuclear Blast, 2001)
by: Chris Flaaten (5 out of 10)

"This album contains old recordings, demos, MPEG videoclips and the first mini-LP _Psykisk testbild_ from '89". I am not a fan of this kind of release. Unused (read "unworthy of studio album") material sold at full price... can't they release something good instead? Anyway, there are actually a couple of interesting songs in this album. The opener, "War", is their heaviest song yet. Firmly placed in the realms of death metal, it shows a side of the band that I hope they will explore further. The next three tracks are from their first mini-LP. For hardcore fans, I am sure this is nice to have, but both the music and production are way below par. Tracks five and six are previously unreleased material; nothing exciting and nothing they haven't done several times already. Following them are two demo versions of songs off _Contradictions Collapse_. The ninth track is a remix of _Chaosphere_'s opening track. The tempo is much slower than the original, giving it a nice, heavy feel. Along with "War", these songs are the only reason to buy this album, in my opinion. The disc finishes with a crazy, noisy and totally unnecessary track. Included are also three MPEG videoclips. The video of "New Millenium Suicide Christ" is basically the band without instruments in a tour bus mimicking the song. Humorous. The live recording of "Elastic" is decent, but the quality is below average and the cameraman should have been closer to the stage. The final videoclip consists of random craziness shot on tour and in the studio. "Completely irrelevant material", it says on the album. I agree... all too much.

(article published 19/10/2001)

CHATS
31/7/2004	J Smit	Meshuggah: From Nothing to Number "I"

ALBUMS
6/5/2012	D Lake	9	Meshuggah - Koloss
25/2/2008	J Smit	8.5	Meshuggah - obZen
19/4/2005	J Smit	7	Meshuggah - Catch 33
12/7/2003	J Smit	6	Meshuggah - Nothing
16/1/1999	A Bromley	9.5	Meshuggah - Chaosphere
1/1/1998	A Gaudrault	6	Meshuggah - The True Human Design