When bands sound like Meshuggah...

[Meshuggah89]

Is there such a thing a sounding too much like Meshuggah? i often find that whenever a band is even remotely touching upon what Meshuggah has accomplished sound-wise i flip my shit. Cause hardly anyone does it. I just think about the maybe ten bands i know using 8 strings and how much of a niche sound it seems to be in the metal world. when you have bands coming out that generalize their songs with breakdowns and blast beat parts in what seems like the "formula" of choice today, it gets old fast. even when bands take the meshuggah sound and use it to develop their own interpretation of what is actually is, it's still 99% more untapped of a sound then everything else coming out. i play 8s because of meshuggah, and i think if you play 8s, chances are your going to sound a little bit like meshuggah even though you might not be trying to. just like how when chuck berry started playing the shit he played and revolutionized rock n roll, im sure anyone who came out after him faced some sort of criticism for jerking off his sound. their are imitators, and their are others who want to take a sound and develop it even further, but have to understand and utilize a sound to make something new from it. i just think the 8 string is still to young to completely avoid it. maybe i just love meshuggah too much, and maybe none of this makes sense to anyone else. i'm just curious how other 8 string players think about it. is sounding too much like meshuggah a bad thing? am i retarded? someone fill me in.

[Dethfield]

Originally Posted by Meshuggah89

i play 8s because of meshuggah, and i think if you play 8s, chances are your going to sound a little bit like meshuggah even though you might not be trying to.

I do not agree. I play 8's and dont write songs that are quite different from their stuff. Most of what i play is judas priest/iron maiden stuff with the added range of the ERG. Im not really into that whole death metal/hardcore/black metal/obnoxious growl type metal. (i dont know much about the different genres of todays metal, they all sound the same to me).

[Metal Ken]

I cant stand bands that sound like meshuggah/bulb/djent stuff at all. When i hear someone's clips and then djent starts, I turn that shit off prompt.

And to say people play 8's cause of meshuggah.... Charlie Hunter?

[t3sser4ct]

Meshuggah created a sub-genre of metal, in my opinion. It's a pretty unique sub-genre, though, so it's pretty easy to be labeled as a blatant ripoff of Meshuggah if you follow them into that particular area. Maybe it's justified, maybe it isn't. A couple of bands come really close to sounding like Meshuggah imitators, like Four Question Marks, but take a few of the projects here on SS.org (the ones classified as "djent") as well as bands like TesseracT; they borrow heavily from Meshuggah and retain many similarities-- especially when utilizing 8-string guitars-- but are often distinct enough that I would have a hard time accusing them of sounding too much like Meshuggah. Of course, some people disagree... ^^

That said, I think it is definitely possible to sound too much like Meshuggah, or any other band for that matter. If you are purposefully trying to sound exactly like another band or musician, then you have the wrong idea about music as far as I'm concerned.

[Customisbetter]

IMO Meshuggah is still different than any other band that plays 8s. If a "djent" song starts playing randomly form my computer, i would never mistake it for a meshuggah tune.

They are in their own world, while the artists they inspired make "djent", which i in fact love.

[Chonker]

The more forms of metal the better, if something has been inspired by meshuggah and sounds similar then that's fine by me, more music i like to listen to!

[vampiregenocide]

Meshuggah are just doing for music what Korn did for nu metal, and Nirvana did for grunge. Creating a unique sound that inspires lots of people, who in turn infuse it with their own styles creating something more different. Its possible to sound like the band that style originally came from, but Meshuggah are so unique its hard to replicate exactly what they have.

I don't complain about djent/chug music, I love it so the more the merrier. I think its a brave, interesting new genre.

[Origin]

I'm actually getting pretty tired of the 'saying djent all the time' trend, they mirror /b/-tards to me, and I HATE those stupid parrot-y ....ers.

I used to like the tone but now I'm always reminded of joiners and I get pissed off >_< still love Meshuggah though of course haha.

[Rational Gaze]

I think one of the most startling things is that even a niche subgenre like "djent" has become extremely formulaic and predictable, and that's sad. When bands like Textures and Sybreed came out, I was like ".... yeah, more 8-stringers", but then the sound quickly became extremely diluted.

Right now it's brootalz on the low string with some mid-range notes every now and then, a singer that screams, but can also sing a high range, the DFHS drum production, a clean guitar playing underneath a solo (whilst the clean tone is nearly identical from one band to the next-shimmery, bright tone), etc. I'm excited for Tesseract because they took the sound but are doing something much more sophisticated with it. If Meshuggah is Korn in nu metal, Tesseract sound like its Deftones. More aural, ambient stuff and less predictable structure/production.

I just think it's time for people to take this sound in new directions. Yes, it has now been accepted that all of these dudes can play odd time riffs over a 4/4 pattern. Now do something cool to it, evolve the sound.

I still haven't heard a band that accurately emulates Meshuggah by the way. Not one. It's a sound that simply cannot be duplicated.

[Customisbetter]

^Exactly.

i also think "Djent" is an extension of "hardcore" music more than meshuggah. Its odd time signatures and screams of hardcore mixed with the Boutique gear and gated staccatoness of Djent,

[Meshuggah89]

Have any of you heard of Uneven Structure? Uneven Structure - EP OUT NOW! on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

I think if any one band gets meshuggah, it's them. It's an interesting EP. set up similar to catch 33 with the song pieces that build off of each other. i think it's more interesting that for their debut album they're going back to 7s to get away from the chuggy "djent"ness. though they're way more processed then meshuggah, and the vocals couldn't be more washed out and low in the mix, what Uneven Structure is doing i find intriguing.

[Rational Gaze]

Originally Posted by Meshuggah89

Have any of you heard of Uneven Structure? Uneven Structure - EP OUT NOW! on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

I think if any one band gets meshuggah, it's them. It's an interesting EP. set up similar to catch 33 with the song pieces that build off of each other. i think it's more interesting that for their debut album they're going back to 7s to get away from the chuggy "djent"ness. though they're way more processed then meshuggah, and the vocals couldn't be more washed out and low in the mix, what Uneven Structure is doing i find intriguing.

See this to me sounded like a "try hard" Meshuggah clone. I can understand the sentiment but it even sounds like Catch 33. Out of all those songs, Egocentric Focus was probably my favorite, but it didn't really do anything other that reinforce the point of this whole thread. Still the shimmering clean guitars, the riding on the lowest string. I'm not saying this stuff sucks, that's far from true. It's the saturation. Also, you're right, the production is waaay too processed. I think they were trying to get the guy to sound like Jens, so they hid him nice and center.

[Malacoda]

Originally Posted by Metal Ken

I cant stand bands that sound like meshuggah/bulb/djent stuff at all. When i hear someone's clips and then djent starts, I turn that shit off prompt.

And to say people play 8's cause of meshuggah.... Charlie Hunter?

Well, I agree with you, but I think that it's kind of a different concept... Hunter played an 8 so he could emulate a bass on a guitar. I think Tosin Abasi is a better example - he plays a standard 8-string, much like the ones Meshuggah uses, yet he gets a completely un-Meshuggan sound (most of the time).

[Metal Ken]

Originally Posted by Malacoda

Well, I agree with you, but I think that it's kind of a different concept... Hunter played an 8 so he could emulate a bass on a guitar. I think Tosin Abasi is a better example - he plays a standard 8-string, much like the ones Meshuggah uses, yet he gets a completely un-Meshuggan sound (most of the time).

I was using a video of Hunter's specifically for the contrast. I guess a better example i could have used was Divine Heresy, but whatever

[swayman]

Originally Posted by Meshuggah89

Is there such a thing a sounding too much like Meshuggah? i often find that whenever a band is even remotely touching upon what Meshuggah has accomplished sound-wise i flip my shit. Cause hardly anyone does it. I just think about the maybe ten bands i know using 8 strings and how much of a niche sound it seems to be in the metal world. when you have bands coming out that generalize their songs with breakdowns and blast beat parts in what seems like the "formula" of choice today, it gets old fast. even when bands take the meshuggah sound and use it to develop their own interpretation of what is actually is, it's still 99% more untapped of a sound then everything else coming out. i play 8s because of meshuggah, and i think if you play 8s, chances are your going to sound a little bit like meshuggah even though you might not be trying to. just like how when chuck berry started playing the shit he played and revolutionized rock n roll, im sure anyone who came out after him faced some sort of criticism for jerking off his sound. their are imitators, and their are others who want to take a sound and develop it even further, but have to understand and utilize a sound to make something new from it. i just think the 8 string is still to young to completely avoid it. maybe i just love meshuggah too much, and maybe none of this makes sense to anyone else. i'm just curious how other 8 string players think about it. is sounding too much like meshuggah a bad thing? am i retarded? someone fill me in.

We'd have to be completely bonkers to think that a great number (not all) of people who own modern 8 string guitars are not at least in some way fans of Meshuggah. I won't get into all the bands that BLATANTLY rip off Meshuggah but maintain they don't.

I personally don't see anything wrong with playing whatever music that makes you happy. Anybody who has a problem with that is somebody you probably shouldn't concern yourself with.

Originally Posted by Metal Ken

I cant stand bands that sound like meshuggah/bulb/djent stuff at all. When i hear someone's clips and then djent starts, I turn that shit off prompt.

And to say people play 8's cause of meshuggah.... Charlie Hunter?

There's nothing wrong with not liking music, but I find the idea of switching something off just because it falls into a particular genre stupid.

I'm not sure if a lot of people buying Ibanez/Schecter/Agile/ESP 8 strings do it because they want to sound like Charlie Hunter, or have even heard of him, bad example.

[vampiregenocide]

Originally Posted by Malacoda

Well, I agree with you, but I think that it's kind of a different concept... Hunter played an 8 so he could emulate a bass on a guitar. I think Tosin Abasi is a better example - he plays a standard 8-string, much like the ones Meshuggah uses, yet he gets a completely un-Meshuggan sound (most of the time).

Tosin uses an 8 for the same reason doesn't he? Tunes with a low E so he has the ability to run the bass range over chords, and play in octaves. He utilizes it for a lot of jazz stuff.

I think its hard to label some bands as djent because they obviously show influence but take it closer to something else. Like AAL, who are no way Meshuggah clones, and more progressive fusion sorta stuff than straight djent.

[leftyguitarjoe]

I play an 8 string and I dont sound like Meshuggah

Yes, I did learn a bunch of Meshuggah. You just have to when you get an 8 string

Ijust think that with that low string, you cant help from sounding like Meshuggah sometimes due to the face that you have that low F that Meshuggah popularized.

[freepower]

Originally Posted by Customisbetter

IMO Meshuggah is still different than any other band that plays 8s. If a "djent" song starts playing randomly form my computer, i would never mistake it for a meshuggah tune.

They are in their own world, while the artists they inspired make "djent", which i in fact love.

+1

I have to say that there's some very derivative music out there - but I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing, I mean, look at "Death" metal. Give the genre some time to mature. If anything, I think the main problem with the genre is that it tends to be one-man 8-string-guitar projects - a few other influences coming in on the other instruments would change things up a lot.

And as for 8s being for Mesh-heads...

Funnily enough, I've always just wanted that extra low end. When I played 6 my favourite bands were Muse, Korn, Fear Factory and the Deftones (who all played 7s, if not necessarily exclusively) - a few years ago I got really into Meshuggah, and Korn, Dino and the Deftones have all gone 8.

But my wanting to go 8 was basically because I could actually afford one now with Agile and now the reasonable production 8s. It was only after it was ordered I realised how much music I listen to has 8s on it.

[possumkiller]

I sold my 8 strings because whenever I played them it always sounded Meshuggah-ish. Or when I would try to play like I normally do in the lower register of the 8 it just sounded like fart noises. I think a 7 is enough for me.

EDIT: BTW THIS GUY<<<<<<<<<<< sounds not at all like Meshuggah on his 8 string.

[glassmoon0fo]

in answer to the op, you cant possibly sound too much like meshuggah because no one else has jens kidman as a singer my balls are scared of that guy.

[Deadseen]

What about Ihshan, he uses 8-strings right?

[Origin]

Props to possum for the Ihsahn nod

[scottro202]

Isn't saying everybody who uses an 8 string sounds like Meshuggah is KINDA like saying everybody that uses a 7-string tuned to Drop/Standard A sounds like Korn?

[shitsøn]

Originally Posted by Customisbetter

They are in their own world, while the artists they inspired make "djent", which i in fact love.

if you put it that way i'd say i love meshuggah and don't like most of the "djent"-bands.

[Malacoda]

Originally Posted by vampiregenocide

Tosin uses an 8 for the same reason doesn't he? Tunes with a low E so he has the ability to run the bass range over chords, and play in octaves. He utilizes it for a lot of jazz stuff.

I think its hard to label some bands as djent because they obviously show influence but take it closer to something else. Like AAL, who are no way Meshuggah clones, and more progressive fusion sorta stuff than straight djent.

Well, yeah, it's similar, but Hunter was specifically doing it so he could play the equivalent of a bass and a guitar at the same time whereas Tosin just wants more range.