Words by Simon Russell-White
It’s hard to fathom that Swedish extreme metal godfathers Meshuggah have been writing their own
rules and creating what is arguably some of the most groundbreaking and intense metal music for just
on 35 years now. What is harder to fathom is the fact that the band has managed to maintain the beast
that is Meshuggah by continually delivering a musical product that inhales and exhales true metal
brilliance.
Unintentionally, Meshuggah dropped their 9th studio album Immutable on April Fool’s Day (April 1,2022) leaving some hardcore fans wondering if the six-year wait between releases was finally over.
HEAVY spoke to Mårten Hagström (guitarist) about the long recording process, keeping the essence that
makes Meshuggah what it is and how time to record the latest release saw the band regain actual
control on every morsel of Immutable given that time is something we’ve all had plenty of over the last
two years.
Interestingly, the band’s fifth album Catch Thirtythree (2005) came up during my conversation with
Mårten with some comparisons being made between the two releases, the major one being not having
said timeline to have it recorded and ready for release. With this, the band were able to (yet again) be
100% satisfied with what they had created over what ended up being a long time with the quintet taking
full advantage of it, the proof being the release of an album that simply slays!
We hope you enjoy Simon’s chat with Mårten, the amount of insight he projects outward was refreshing and really gave a glimpse into the juggernaut that is the one and only Meshuggah.
