The True Human Design

This is one of the lesser-known entries in Meshuggah's discography, and though it's entirely unnecessary, it's a nice little item for friends of the band. The super jewel box edition of 'Chaosphere' has the same tracks as are found on this, so if you have that, there's no real reason to pick this up, but for those without it, this is a nice little release to add to your Meshuggah collection.

Okay, so we've got a demo version of 'Sane', which unsurprisingly sounds just like it would on 'Chaosphere', and a live version of 'Future Breed Machine', which unsurprisingly sounds just like it does on 'Destroy Erase Improve' but with worse mixing. Things get more interesting from there on out; the 'Mayhem version' of that same track is about as devastatingly heavy as other reviewers imply. This slowed-down version of 'Future Breed Machine' is laced with added electronic effects, and while I think this is just a slowed-down remix, not an actual re-recording, it's still a pretty phenomenal track and rivals the original, albeit in a very different way.

The last three are just fun little extras; the acoustic version of, yet again, 'Future Breed Machine' is a cute novelty. The concluding two electronic tracks, though, are more substantial; they're entirely unmetal, but they're surprisingly well composed and deep little dance numbers that can withstand multiple listens without seeming shallow or irritating. It's surely not what most people are looking for on a Meshuggah release, but hell, I like them.

Only one of the tracks here really NEEDS to be heard (the 'Mayhem version' of course), so if you just want to hear the most essential item, download that off your favorite file-sharing service. If you like the idea of Meshuggah gone techno or are just an ardent completist, you might as well grab this; it's pretty cheap in any major online storefronts and will give you a hell of a lot more enjoyment for your money than whatever Pelican crapped out last.

This six track EP from Meshuggah is quite an interesting piece of work.

First track on the EP comes from their (then upcoming) album "Chaosphere". Sane is a typical Meshuggah song with extreme detuned riffs (I think its down to G# on this one), Jens Kidman screaming and howling at the air as usual, odd rhythms... Nothing really unusual about this one.

Second track is a live cut of their single from Destroy, Erase, Improve "Future Breed Machine". Awesome on the studio version and it is replicated flawlessly live.

Third track is a remix of Future Breed Machine dubbed the "Mayhem Version" This version is much slower and more sludgy than the original, and Jens is giving 110% with his vocals on it. Altogether it is very brutal and extremely heavy.

The next track is the reason why I bought this EP. In typical Meshuggah style humour the guys from the band recorded a "Campfire mix" of Future Breed Machine with accoustic guitars and called it Futile Bread Machine. The lead vocals sound like Jens is on helium. Hilarious stuff and this makes it worth the purchase alone.

The last two tracks caught me by surprise because they aren't listed on the back of CD. Basically Meshuggah made two electronica/techno pieces about six minutes long each and added them to the EP. In my opinion they're actually quite good, but I can see that a many "metalheads" would not apprieciate them.

Overall: Worth the purchase, but only if you're in it for the funny antics and you have an apprieciation for the techno. Otherwise I'd feel that someone would be hard pressed in justifying spending $12 for a song which you can get on the studio albums and 3 versions of the same song + 2 experimental non-metal pieces.

This is an EP that was released after Destory Erase Improve. It contains Sane (which would appear in a different form on Chaosphere), 3 versions of Future Breed Machine (the best tech-metal song ever) and 2 strange techno pieces.

First of all, I don't *ever* listen to the techno songs, so I won't really count them in part of the review, except to say that they are what is stopping this EP from getting a 95. Sane is a heavy motherfucker of a song, which consists of the typical Meshuggah screaming and the techincal riffage with a cool chorus to boot. Next up is Future Breed Machine (live). Not much to say about it, other than that it is amazing (just like the album version). They do it perfectly live.

Ok. Hold your breath. The next song (Future Breed Machine (Mayhem version)) gets my vote for the heaviest song ever. EVER. PERIOD. Basically a long SLLOOWW version of the original, with a few different riffs. The difference is the singing. WOW. I bet Jens' lungs were plastered on the studio wall after that one.

The next song is FBM (Campfire Version), which is good to listen to as a joke. Very well done.

Overall, this is an excellent EP, with the 3rd track being worth the entire price of admission.