Contradictions Collapse/None

Contradictions Collapse/None

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Reissue of the metal band's 1991 debut album with all four cuts from their 1994 EP 'None' added as bonus tracks, 'Humiliative', 'Sickening', 'Ritual' and 'Gods Of Rapture'. 13 tracks total. Also features the original cover art of both releases. 1999 release.

Tracks:

Contradictions Collapse: Paralyzing Ignorance
Contradictions Collapse: Erroneous Manipulation
Contradictions Collapse: Abnegating Cecity
Contradictions Collapse: Internal Evidence
Contradictions Collapse: Qualms Of Reality
Contradictions Collapse: We'll Never See The Day
Contradictions Collapse: Greed
Contradictions Collapse: Choirs Of Devastation
Contradictions Collapse: Cadeverous Mastication
None: Humiliative
None: Sickening
None: Ritual
None: Gods Of Rapture

Album Description

Reissue of the metal band's 1991 debut album with all four cuts from their 1994 EP 'None' added as bonus tracks, 'Humiliative', 'Sickening', 'Ritual' and 'Gods Of Rapture'. 13 tracks total. Also features the original cover art of both releases. 1999 release.

Customer Reviews:

The start of something great.......2007-01-05

Even without looking at the track listing, it's obvious that "Contradictions Collapse" ends after the ninth track of this C.D. (a 1999 reissue of Meshuggah's first two official releases). The remaining four songs on the disc, which were taken from Meshuggah's 1994 EP, "None," feature matured songwriting from Meshuggah. These songs are more innovative and unique, and aren't as predictable as the nine tracks which preceded them. "None" is highlighted by Thomas Haake's first use of impeccable polyrhythms, tight, technical guitar playing, complex song structures, bigger and better production, and deeper vocals from Jens.

But even though "None" is far superior, "Contradictions Collapse"(recorded in 1991) is definitely not without charm. These songs rock hard, forcefully, and directly, and are ripe with hooky, abrasive, grinding riffs (which were obviously influenced by thrash groups like Metallica and early Pantera), start-stop rhythms, breakneck tempo changes, raw, pounding snare drums, guitar solos, Jens' young, hardcore-ish vocals (high pitched barks and even a few growls), and memorably catchy call-and-response shouts in the choruses. And, surprisingly, a couple spots of clean or acoustic guitar even sprout up, and supply a great, melodic contrast to the fast, heavy parts (something that would become rare on later Meshuggah albums). The second and third tracks, "Erroneous Manipulation" and "Abnegating Cecity," augment pounding, churning guitars with fast double bass drumming. Other highlights include "Internal Evidence," which is highlighted by a funky, slapped guitar line and a skipping beat, the stutter-stepping riffs and rapid fire drums on "Qualms Of Reality," and "Choirs Of Devastation," which opens with some of the aforementioned soft strumming before the song morphs into punching riffs, thumping drums, and eerie, spoken word vocals.

"Contradictions Collapse/None" is rather long (almost 80 minutes), but that just means there's more here to love. This release is an essential purchase if you consider yourself a Meshuggah fan. It gives a great background history for this great band (it really shows you how they have evolved and improved over time), and it's a convenient re-release of two albums that would otherwise be almost impossible to find today.

Meshuggah back when they resembled Metallica with a twist of technicality.......2006-07-07

If you have heard this album and then listened to Destroy Erase Emprove, then you already know there was a big jump there musically. Contradictions Collapse is a great Technical Thrash album. Not anything like what Meshuggah puts out today. Well, maybe with the exception of the tone of the guitar solos. Anyway, this album sounds alot like Metallica with Anthrax's back up vocal yells...but done in a Swedish way. Which makes for a great listen. From the very start of the album you'll be able to see what I mean. Very Bay City Thrash like. If you heard Meshuggah's newer stuff before you heard Contradictions Collapse then you're in for a surprise.

This album is undeniably a must have. And if you truly want to know Meshuggah's roots then you have to have it. Its also nice to have the None EP tracks on here as well. You get to see the start of some of the transition in sound and style. Simply great.

Not as far-removed as many people claim........2006-06-08

Meshuggah have always held a unique niche in metal. Their full-fledged "cyber metal" style wouldn't really begin until later in their career, but that is not to say that these Swedes weren't already churning out music with a similar technical flair. Sure, the songs on _Contradictions Collapse_ have obvious melodies, gang shouts, and rawer vocals - all the makings of Meshuggah are here. The huge amounts of technically-driven riffs and barrages of shifting precision polyrhythms are plentiful; even as far back as 1991, Meshuggah had all the power and intelligence that makes their style so good. Just listen to some of the guitar solos - weird, looping notes, courtesy of a 21-year-old Fredrik Thordendal, were already far ahead in the evolutionary plain of technical metal shreds. And although the guitars were still played with six strings then, and Mårten Hagström had yet to join the band, there was a certain extra punch to the crunch, so to speak, which was only to get even better in the years to come.

Granted, there are moments on this album that would never be played by Meshuggah again (namely the ACOUSTIC guitars on "Qualms of Reality" and "Choirs of Devastation"), but this was just Meshuggah's way of identifying what worked and didn't work for themselves. Even though I personally like what they did here, and think it did work quite well, it was their later styles that really pushed the proverbial envelope and made their music something special.

I've heard all sorts of comparisons to Bay Area thrash when this album is brought up, and although there is a certain amount of thrash to their sound, the technicality and brutal onslaught of heaviness is prevalent, making for some seriously powerful metal.

Then the _None_ EP came out in 1994, and Meshuggah proved that they would never be the same. Blocks of heaviness, a mechanical, droning bass in the background, stacks of increasingly unusual rhythms, and trippy tech-solos are in abundance. Even though there are still a few uneven moments (namely in Jens Kidman's vocal performance, which still has signs of organic origins), _None_ shows Meshuggah have evolved into a very different kind of beast, segueing directly into the cyber-thrash of their mighty 1995 album _Destroy, Erase, Improve_, which would of course open entire vistas of creativity which Meshuggah are so well-known for.

And here are both releases, together on one neat CD! So why did I only give this less than five stars? It's because of Nuclear Blast's shoddy packaging job. You get a tracklist on the back, a photo of the band's lineup from sometime after 1994, and lots of Scandinavian articles about the band from the time period. Lyrics? Nope. Recording info? Uh-uh. And the fifth track from None, "Aztec Two-Step" - a great track, by the way - was omitted, but this is slightly understandable due to the 80-minute time constraints of CDs. Why can't Nuclear Blast just reissue BOTH albums, SEPARATELY, with all lyrics, all info, all tracks, and maybe expanded liner notes? They'd make a ton of money, because lots of fans like me would buy them in a heartbeat. Oh well. It's a minor complaint about an otherwise terrific chronicle of the beginnings of one of the most unique and powerful metal bands of all time.

Contradictions Collapse!.......2005-09-30

The beginning of an enigmatic career for Meshuggah. This album isn't really that great compared to Meshuggah releases after this album, but still better than any other thrash album. The standout track is definitely Choirs Of Devastation. This is pretty much a thrash album and no where near as brutal as Meshuggah today. Still worthy enough to own.

Best Out Of The Worst.......2005-05-17