The Swedish ‘djent’ metal masters delivered “cold savagery balanced with brainy technicianship” at GLC Live at 20 Monroe on Sunday. The Local Spins review by John Serba with photos by Anthony Norkus.

Meshuggah: Uncorked a fan-mesmerizing attack. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
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Meshuggah didn’t hit the ground running – they hit it stalking.
Eschewing the usual explosive heavy metal entrance, the Swedish band let a long, ambient intro guide it to the stage, where members parked in front of red lightboxes, striking menacing silhouettes.
Opening number “Broken Cog” didn’t thunder and rage, instead leading a game Grand Rapids audience into bleakness, vocalist Jens Kidman almost whispering the lyrics as the band layered eerie guitar textures atop each other.
The vibe established on Sunday at GLC Live at 20 Monroe, the band then, well, let rip. “Rational Gaze” and “Perpetual Black Second” – both from Meshuggah’s 2002 classic album “Nothing” – followed, escalating the aggression from controlled blunt-force strikes to a nigh-overwhelming chaos.

Jens Kidman: Leading the audience into bleakness. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
For a band that hadn’t played Grand Rapids since 1999, opening for Slayer at the now-demolished Orbit Room, it was a reintroduction to remember.
Now, Meshuggah isn’t always so varied. Their M.O. is to cycle, angular, chugging, off-kilter riffs atop splashy, almost jazzy, drums, the rhythms purposely out of sync; but when they catch up to each other, look out, because that’s when the violence begins.
The band’s cosmic take on staccato thrash combined with its existential lyrics and atmospherics established Meshuggah as a singular act praised for its musicianship and technical innovation – and creators of “djent” subgenre, named as such for the way those riffs sound: djent-djent-djent.
You can’t really dance to it. Hell, you can barely headbang to it. How Meshuggah got so popular is anyone’s guess, but a couple thousand people piled into a venue defined by its blah big-square-box aesthetics and crummy sightlines to experience this esoteric music, and bask in its deep, ominous vibes.
THE BAND’S PRESENTATION: PSYCHEDELIC BACKDROPS, HORRIFIC IMAGERY
Meshuggah’s compositions tend toward intently miniscule variations on a theme. Sometimes, they’re driven by basslines that writhe like robotic constrictors (“Perpetual Gaze”); sometimes, they showcase the controlled tumult of drummer Tomas Haake (“Abysmal Eye,” show highlight “Humiliative”).
But most times, songs sound similar, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Marten Hagstrom trading between repetitious riffing and noodly, atonal solos, subtleties lost a bit in the live setting. The formula requires musicianship so precise, it’s almost robotic in execution – and that kind of cold savagery balanced with brainy technicianship is part of the appeal.

The Fans: Sunday night at GLC Live at 20 Monroe. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
I’m not saying they can be too repetitive; they just border on it. But I’m also saying we should be grateful for the band’s presentation, which incorporates a highly effective display of lasers, swirling spotlights and strobes in front of psychedelic backdrops adorned with horrific imagery. It was one part Tool, one part David Lynch and one part “Shit, I Didn’t Smoke Enough Pot.”
There’s a monotony to Meshuggah that’s monolithic and oppressive – and wholly intentional. They’re not writing hits, but cultivating a mood. Notably, they flubbed the intro to “Born in Dissonance,” halting the number, Kidman laughing, and taking a moment to get back on track. Turns out, they’re not robots after all.
Knoxville’s Whitechapel opened the show with 30 minutes of thoroughly American metalcore, with grinding, complicated, not particularly memorable riffs leading into moshworthy breakdowns. They were followed by In Flames, veteran Swedes with more than 30 years in the melodic death metal business. Their set mostly stuck to the latter two-thirds of its career, although a spirited run-through of “Behind Space,” a lickety-split riffster from 1994’s “Lunar Strain” record, tickled the cockles of aging fans (guilty!).
For the rest, “Take This Life,” “Everything’s Gone” and “Cloud Connected” were plenty fine, raging and controlled, for the most part departing from the speedy dual-guitar runs that put the band at the forefront of the ’90s Euro-metal movement, but never forgoing the melodic sensibilities that define them.
PHOTO GALLERY: Meshuggah, In Flames, Whitechapel at GLC Live at 20 Monroe
Photos by Anthony Norkus