Customer Reviews

Sol Niger Within

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Imagine Fear Factory (if they took lessons from Dream Theater) with Steve Vai (a Vai with 4 hands) on guitar, Cookie Monster gurgling broken glass (coached by a pit viper) on vocals, add a bassist and drummer who played with Zappa, and get Mike Patton to write the songs (if Patton was watching a Clockwork Orange backwards and smoking Chiquita banana peels), and you might come up with this GODLIKE album. Buy this now and forever be scarred. Aural mindgames.

Meshuggah's Fredrik Thordendal is a remarkable guitar player, among the most innovative in metal I believe. With his solo project, Special Defects, he adopts a more jazz-influenced stimulus which is stacked with the twisted metal passages that forged his reputation with Meshuggah. _Sol Niger Within Version 3.33_ is a frightening 26-song plunge into a twisted world. Fusion idioms make themselves heard but they are buried under complex layers of cybernetic trash that could be mistaken for a Terminator army's death march theme. This is one continuous outpouring of musical dementia - the album is pretty much a single piece arbitrarily divided up into tracks, and unlike most songs divided in this manner, there is virtually no guessing where one track should end and another should begin. Weird song titles like "Vitamin K Experience" and "The Executive Furies of the Robot Lord of Death" seem to make it more irrelevant.

If you have heard Meshuggah, you should know this is far less harsh and abrasive, though still very heavy and punishing. Thordendal's gated riffing style makes his rhythms very distinct and choppy, but compared to Meshuggah there is a bit more fluidity to the rhythm. Thordendal takes many opportunities to expand the vocabulary of his Holdsworth-inspired legato lead style, revealing his knack for modal improvisation too. Demonic-robot rasping of both Thordendal himself and Thomas Haake will possibly leave first-degree burns. And the drumming...it's good. Very good. If Virgil Donati is the Thunder from Down Under, then Morgan Agren is...um, the Demon from Sweden (hey, I tried), superimposing odd-metered riffing with his own polyrhythmic layering. As opposed to Thomas Haake's drumming with Meshuggah -- which is quite deliberately super-tight, machinelike and rigid -- Agren's is more organic and limber.

This is an utterly compelling avant-metal fusion album that is not just for Meshuggah fans. Anyone willing to experiment with different musical experiences should direct their attention to _Sol Niger Within_.

If you're looking at this item, then you must be a Meshuggah fan. Fredrik Thordendal, the genius behind this obscure little side project, is the guitarist behind the aforementioned band, and if you aren't aware of Meshuggah yet, I highly recommend you explore them first. Read on if you're still curious...

To the Meshuggeners, this review is a strong encouragement for you to take the extra step towards buying this CD. I bought mine from Morgan Agren's website, the only time I've ever dared venture away from Amazon.com (the only time I ever needed to!). It was expensive, but it was also brand new (shrink-wrapped), which is important to me.

This is my favorite CD ever.

Whew, now that I got that out, let me tell you why: this is a musical experience beyond your average metal. I listen to metal, and I listen to this, and the sensations I recieve from each are actually different. With metal, it's about aggression and excitement. With Meshuggah and Fredrik Thordendal it is... confusion? With a mix of awe? And definitely some fear. But there's something else in there. Something alien. Something I will never put my finger on, but my brain sure knows its there. Sol Niger Within is the perfect way to explore this sensation.

This album is one long song at about 42 minutes, but it is divided into thirty tracks or so, making it easy to find your favorite riff or solo. This makes things a bit hard on iPod users like myself who regularly shuffle songs, but trust me when I say you won't mind sitting down and giving this album the whole of your attention.

The drum performance is out of this world. Thomas Haake of Meshuggah is highly revered, but his robotic sense of timing is matched with ease by Morgan Agren. What's truly amazing to hear, however, are the moments - and they are plenty - when the drummer frees himself of the mathematics and plays fast and freely instead, abusing the entire drum set. Sometimes it adds amazing color to the music, sometimes it's wild and goes off on its own like freeform jazz, and sometimes it is just a formidible wall of sound. All the time, it is pure heaven for drum fanatics.

I've never really given much credit to vocals in metal, but let me tell you, Fredrik Thordendal's staccato demon-like spitting sounds damn cool without taking itself too seriously or offending the eardrums. The delivery mimics the stop-and-go style of the rhythm guitars, too, so you could say that the vocals add an entire new layer to the complexity. There are some lame spoken word sections, but in general the vox add to the otherworldly atmosphere. Anyway, I've never really given much credit to lyrics in metal, either...

Fredrik's distinct solos are so plentiful here. The "freak out" moments for most Meshuggah fans when listening to their albums are often during the bridge section of their songs where Fredrik crazy-solos over a twisted riff, and you get that times ten on this album.

I'm trying to think of a downside here, and I think I may have one. The only thing a Meshuggener might not be expecting is the experimental stuff towards the end. I don't want to spoil anything, but just remember that this IS a side project and experimentation is normal. From Thordendal, I wasn't too surprised. There are some seemingly off-key notes that are very interesting, and the whole change in tone is certainly delivered with the tongue firmly placed in the cheek. It's fun and grows on you with every listen, even if it can drag a little bit.

Speaking of dragging, I think I better wrap things up. I consider this the lost Meshuggah album, and there's nothing a Meshuggah fan could want more than more Meshuggah, is there? Fredrik did enough to make this project his own, and everything he did was good, but this was obviously directed at his Meshuggah fans. As for everyone else, well... I'm still trying to get my friends to except this as something other than "broken-record static."

This is the solo release from Meshuggah wunderkind Fredrik Thorendal where he becomes even more exploratory and weird. For this, he chose to institute a couple of changes. First, he chose to do the vocals, and I'm glad that he did, for they are the strangest voicings that I have heard in a long time! Reminiscent of a snake sliding through muck, the words swirl around the music, creating a very hypnotic, paranoid reality which traps you for 40+ minutes. Thorendal also chose Morgan Ågren, who is a more jazz/fusion oriented drummer to perform here. Again, he does an incredible job, and while different than Tomas Haake, incorporates the same 3/2 playing style, albeit without the double bass work. This is not exactly a "metal" release, as the middle section of the album is more experimental, with screams, church organs and saxophone, but still heavy enough for this reviewer to include it here. Again, not for the purists (you know who you are, be proud!), but for those who crave more Meshuggah, this may be $15 well spent. I love this album, but I also like Mr. Bungle and such, so, you may want to check it out for yourself!

Fredrik Thordendal and the several other incredible musicians involved in making this CD have added not only an incredible twist to metal, but to music altogether with this album. The most apparent characteristic of these songs are their incredible rhythmic complexity. Being a drummer myself, I fell in love when i heard how relaxed the drummers of these tracks are and how they smooth out the mathematically technical time signatures and polyrhythms, while having the coordination to fill, solo, and accent whenever it is approriate. IF YOU'RE A DRUMMER, THIS CD IS A MUST, REGARDLESS OF WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC YOU LISTEN TO!! Frederick also expands the musical beauty of this CD by creating some incredible guitar solos overlaying some incredible chord changes. The overall textures created are great (like a nice synth pad and 7 string guitars), such as on "Zeta 1 - Reticuli". The combination of a complex, smooth rhythm section and a diverse guitar player make some great songs! I was not a fan of the vocals at first (the general style) but if you listen the phrasing and the rhythms played by the vocalist, you can understand the difficulty. It also adds to the mood of the music. And to top it off, in reading the lyrics, you'll find some interesting things being said. I listen to fusion, jazz, rock, and metal and this CD is among one of my favorites. RECCOMENDED FOR ANY METAL LOVER, ANY DRUMMER, AND ANY AWARE MUSICIAN WHO LIKES ANY TYPE OF MUSIC!!!

Just what in Sam Hill is Special Defects? Is it an extension of Meshuggah, since they have a link to it on their website? Or is it Fredrik Thordendal's side project? Well, I'm not going to waste too many brain cells thinking about it since I use 90% of my mental capacity just waking up in the morning. Now I'm not someone who chases down side project albums. But I had to check this out since I'm in awe of Thordendal's fretwork (and Meshuggah in general). He brings a sense of individuality to the guitar that is sadly lacking in 98% of these so called "guitar heroes". Since he named the project partially after himself, you can expect him to put a little less restraint on himself than he normally does in Meshuggah, correct?

You got it.

For those of us who love hearing Thordendal's soloing, Sol Niger Within is a godsend. A lot of people say Special Defects isn't as heavy as Meshuggah. Maybe that's because S.D. lacks the presence of Mehguugah's bone pulverizing rhythm guitarist Marten Hagstrom. But it's heavy enough. Not only does Thordendal play guitar, he also produces "Antanca" (which consists of the first 26 tracks) and does vocals. Even though its enhanced by distortion, Thordendal's reptilian vocals make Meshuggah frontman Jens Kidman's sound like Clay Aiken. Meshuggah drummer Tomas Haake does a few spoken word parts, but he does not play drums. That honor is reserved for Morgan Agren. Agren's drumming is more free flowing and flashier than Haake's more regimented style. That's not saying one is better than the other, it's saying they're different but equally amazing. There's even a sax player named Jonas Knutsson. Knutsson plays a noisy John Zorn-ish solo on one track and matches Thordendal in a jaw-dropping duet on another.

As for the songs: there are only three of them. "Antanca" is a 26 track high-concept song that deals with themes such as death, the afterlife, UFOs, godlike detachment, and the destruction of the universe. Even the instrumental sections are attached to a quote from people like Dante Aligheri, Plato, William S. Burroughs, Oscar Wilde, and fine upstanding bastion of morality the Marquis de Sade. Track #6 is about the Marvel Comics character Galactus, who was the sole survivor of the universe that preceded our own. "Missing Time" is a quirky 11 minute jazz-fusion fest with some incredible guitar-synth. It tells of a UFO abductee's inability to remember his abduction, and the fear that his abductors will return for him. "Ooo Baby Baby" (I know, STUPID title) is a 2 minute metal instrumental that brings the album to its close.

Since Sol Niger Within is basically Thordendal's baby, it's a no-brainer that Meshuggah fans would want to check it out. But anyone who places high standards on musicianship when it comes to heavy metal needs to check it out as well. So when does version 6.66 hit the shelves?

Overall rating: 5 black suns

First off, there are more than 9 tracks on this CD. In fact, theres more than 20 tracks. But each track flows into the next so its like one long song split into 20 odd tracks. This lets you skip around to the best parts. Fredrik uses his blackmetal-ish voice as an instrument to add another layer on to the intense polyrythems he creates with his guitar and the drums. Its indescribable. You have to hear it to understand what im talking about, but its completely original. Like nothing else ever recorded. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS.

If you Enjoyed Meshuggah, chances are you will enjoy this. Keeping In mind that it is Fredrik himself doing the vocals this time and it sounds wicked. The guy below me is totaly right, you can't just have this playing in the backround, or while your doing something, This is the kind of cd that you can pop in and it takes you away, Without even thinking about it you'll start having all these wierd day dream type things. The whole cd is like a winding story. There are no pauses between songs so its a never ending maze in which you are lost in a swirl of polyrhythmic palm muting, very very creative guitaring, with this onslaught of these demonic vocals, which in some parts can be totaly evil, and then warp in to neat little saxaphone riffs. This is a keeper. Plus Fredrik Thordendal did a song about Galactus, how cool can this cd be?

The incredibly diverse soundscape of this album defys comparison. It is at times MASSIVELY heavy, at others moody and exploratory, frenetic, grooving, but always ultimately interesting and fresh. The most visciously eclectic collection of guitar tones and effects of this decade-- if you want bang your head and blow your mind at the same time, BUY THIS FREAKING ALBUM NOW!

Thirty sum years of metal have all led up to this point. It's all downhill from here. No need to repeat the near-rabid accolades of all previous reviews, but i will add this - if you want this album for less than $150.00 US, go to Morgan Agren's website; Amazon doesn't like URL's in their reviews, but it's not hard to find, being that it is his name with a ".com" suffix. He plays the drums on this album, and it's available there for about $20 US.