Meshuggah – Alive

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Nuclear Blast
Directred by Ian McFarland

Within the first few seconds of popping this DVD into the player, one can tell that this is no ordinary concert DVD. The way that the opening credits dissolve in and out, the production level of the sound, the overall style of the presentation, even the way that the menus are structured – all of these inform the viewer that this DVD is going to be more like a feature film than a simple collection of live videos cobbled together in order to sell merchandise.

As the DVD experience begins to unfold, short vignettes in between performance tracks provide insight into who the people are that comprise the mighty unit that is Meshuggah. The viewer gets to see what life on the road is like for these guys, how they feel about their music, what they do to prepare for a show, how the rest of the crew operates, and much more. By the time the last performance ends, the viewer is rewarded not only with a fine set of powerful live performances – all of which are delivered with excellent sound and video quality and superior multi-camera production – but also with a feeling that he or she actually knows a lot more about Meshuggah than before playing the DVD. This is what makes this DVD truly great.

Yes, it’s very awesome to watch close-up shots of the hands and feet of the inhuman machine that is Tomas Haake while he performs, and yes, it’s very cool to watch Fredrik and the boys shown in silhouette and backlit by seizure-inducing strobes as they slice through some of the heaviest and most complex music in the universe with what seems like the ease of a hot knife slicing through butter, but the real payoff for the investment in this first-ever DVD from the mighty Meshuggah is the fact that they invite you into their lives a little – and this is as good as gold for a true fan of any band.

“ excellent sound and video quality ”

Tracklist:
CD – Perpetual Black Second / Electric Red / Rational Gaze / Pravus / Lethargica / Combustion / Straws Pulled At Random / New Millenium Cyanide Christ / Stengah / The Mouth Licked What You’ve Bled / Humiliative / Bleed
DVD – Begin / Perpetual Black Second / Twenty-Two Hours / Pravus / Dissemination / Bleed / Ritual / New Millenium Cyanide Christ / Cleanse / Stengah / The Mouth Licked What You’ve Bled / Machine / Electric Red / Solidarius / Rational Gaze / Moment / Lethargica / Communicate / Combustion / Humiliative / Infinitum / Straws Pulled At Random / End
Bonus Content: Bleed music video / The Making of Bleed / Micha guitar tour / Tomas drum tour

Written by Chris Poling
More: Death Metal, Live DVDs, Meshuggah