Alive

Amazing band, flawless performances.

Blimey, Meshuggah has a new DVD out! fans will already know from albums like "Chaosphere, Nothing and Obzen" how crushingly heavy and complicated these guys arrangements are. But as of now it hasn't been possible to view this work (unless you were lucky enough to catch them on tour) So Alive arrives in a very timely manner indeed, straight after the completion of the "Obzen" world tour, after 6 full length studio releases and 2 EP's.Having said that Alive is a generous live DVD edition, which encompasses a large scopy of some of their best back catalogue, including fan favourites such as:- "New millenium cyanide christ" "Bleed" "Perpetual black second" and "Combustion" all make an appearance but with perhaps a greater emphasis on their latest opus "Obzen" - released back in 2008, sadly "Future breed machine" did not make this set and is rather disappointing as i regard the song as their singular best one, although most of the other live staples you would expect to find are here never-the-less. Musicianship as always is executed of the highest order.It's a well rounded and good quality product though, the set is primarily filmed in a show on part of the North america Obzen world tour run not so long ago and the loudpark festival in Tokyo, Japan, was also included. Slightly irritatingly the DVD comes with a CD as standard in the set i believe, which is a sonic audio rendition of the live performances unbroken and complete, unfortunately the DVD is NOT a continuous live show, fans or perspective buyers of "Alive" should therefore be warned and notified beforehand.In terms of what you are getting here i'd say it's pretty good value for money, other features included especially for this release are short documentary clips and images, but also as an exclusive bonus to fans Meshuggah have included the bizarre video for the lead single "Bleed" of the album "Obzen" featuring the making-of and containing impressive in depth - analysis from Thomas haake and the kit that was used in the video also, quite fascinating stuff indeed.Graphically and sonically it is about what is expected from a 2010 release and overall it generally delivers, it is a wealthy set containing many delightful inclusions to make even the most hardened Meshuggarite smile, and a respectful offering but the layout is not quite what i would have liked nor is the live performances composited in a combined effort - though i'll put this down to a shortage of material good enough to make the DVD from a singular show. Still it's not bad at all therefore in context given the nature of "Alive" i would only recommend to fanatic fans and metalheads who are able to overlook several minor shortcomings that don't significantly prevent this release from gaining the top five star rating.

Meshuggah have long been regarded as one of the tightest acts in metal - this live CD/DVD proves it.The production is fantastic, and, unbelievable, each song sounds better than their studio album counterpart.Playing live, the members of the band add a certain undefinable something to each song. In particular, the live versions of the tracks off Obzen sound utterly massive and add a new depth to the bass sound.Well worth owning, even if it's just to see how they manage to perform Bleed live!

any Meshuggah fan needs to have this one! apart from the fact that these guys can play the quality of the recording really dose there music justice plus i love the jaw dropping drumming.the dvd is the usual gig dvd with some back stage stuff inbetween each song,its great picture and sound quality once again.so glad i got this one it delivers on all levels, just buy it i promise you will love it, i cant stop listening to rational gaze,it dose'nt get better.

While I've been inundated with updates on Blabbermouth about Maynard Keenan releasing a DVD about his wine producing exploits, one of the other major players of cutting edge prog metal , Meshuggah, were putting together something that actually got me excited - a live DVD and CD, with footage taken from the bands first ever world tour supporting the sublime "Obzen" album.Some fans may be puzzled at the omission of any "Destroy Erase Improve" tracks, but its refreshing to see a band not rest on its laurels and try and move on from past glories (anyone else think Metallica have rinsed playing Seek and Destroy live?). Meshuggah on-stage apperance is fitting for the music that they play - Fred and Mårten with their unreal 8-string guitars, Jens with his skull positively pulsating as he torturously unleashes his vocals, and the entire band dressed in an uncompromising monochrome.The music is faultlessly tight - not a single beat is missed and those insane stacatto polyrhythms retain all their wierdness perfectly. Although to be honest, you cant help thinking whilst listening to it that you'd rather be hearing the better-sounding studio versions of the songs, since Meshuggah are not the band to jam and alter stuff majorly live (with the exception of Fred, who does some amazing improvs for solos).Highlights include the massive slab of lushness that is "Rational Gaze", Haakes extra-bewildering drumming on "The Mouth Licking What You've Bled", and Fred's solo on the outro to "Straws Pulled at Random", which still ranks as one of the most beautiful pieces of music that i've had the pleasure of hearing.If you're lacking in the funds you'd be better off buying the re-release of Nothing, since it has a bonus DVD with amazing footage from Download 2005 on it, and you get an unbelievable album included too obviously.'Alive' will sit pretty in my Meshuggah collection (only the seventh album I have by them, clearly not enough!), and has served as a nice reminder of how awesome they really are.

Brutal from start to finish! They really are one of the best live bands in the world and this pack definately shows why! Flawlessly tight as a group. Tomas Haake is one of the best metal drummers around!

A cut down version of the CD album, this record is spread across 2 vinyl's and features all Meshuggah's great's played live flawlessly. Probably one of the heaviest album's printed to vinyl.