Meshuggah (SE)

The world found about these Swedes from “The Osbournes” when Ozzy’s son harassed the neighbors by playing their music full blast. But Meshuggah is more than just a noisy novelty, unpalatable to the average Joe. This is the band that rocketed heavy sounds into the 21st century, abandoning the medieval charges of heavy metal and the pointless oneupmanship of guitar solos. Innumerable copycats have sprung up, none of which stand a chance at dethroning Meshuggah as the world’s best extreme metal band. We didn’t make that up — it’s actually how they’re described all over the world, from the metal press to “Rolling Stone” magazine. Meshuggah have announced a new record coming up in 2011 — a fresh portion of cold, mathematical precision and brutal, merciless sounds. They’re going to test the new material on all of you. Sorry about that.