Immutable
| Meshuggah
Immutable
Immutable is the ninth album by Swedish progressive metal band Meshuggah. It was released on 1 April 2022 via Atomic Fire Records, making it the band's first studio album to not be released through Nuclear Blast. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Angry Metal Guy
There is no getting away, however, from how long Immutable is. The only record in Meshuggah‘s catalogue over an hour, for all its greatness, Immutable feels long. And, while warmer sounding than the likes of ObZen or Koloss, Immutable is also loud, which makes it a slightly tiring aural experience as one approaches, and then passes, the 60-minute mark. I really enjoyed Immutable and love that it feels like Meshuggah cutting free, without losing their essence or descending into some concept piece, but it could do with some serious trimming to really harness the vitality on show from these tech metal luminaries.
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Sputnik Music
As a start-to-finish experience, there’s a tendency for things to melt together as momentum flags, the sequencing grates, or you find yourself paying less than your most devout attention to the swiftly passing milieu. In this light, Meshuggah’s latest expansion of their well-defined sound ends up feeling more exhaustive than definitive, unfortunately adding up to something less than the sum of its parts.
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Kerrang!
It really is impossible to pick fault with the record, every track playing its part, and further cementing their legend. Where Meshuggah go from here is anyone’s guess, but should they choose to call it a day with Immutable their swansong they definitely would be going out with a bang – as they rightly should.
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Louder
prog-metal emperors Meshuggah deliver another head-spinning classic with new album Immutable.
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Distorted Sound Magazine
MESHUGGAH are still a powerhouse for a reason. They truly are the godfathers of tech, and whether you are a fan of their pummelling style or not, there is no doubting that echoes of their influence still reverberate around the scene to this day. As Don Vito Corleone so eloquently put it, “A man who doesn’t spend time listening to MESHUGGAH can never be a real man.” Or something like that…
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AllMusic
Though their trademark sound remains instantly identifiable, Meshuggah creates deliberate tension between that trademark sound and an insatiable need to evolve musically. That intent is pervasive on Immutable. It marks the contrast in production, composition, and guitar tones over a whopping 67 minutes, making it their longest album to date.
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Cryptic Rock
The truth is while being relatively underground, Meshuggah are still consistently influencing the world of Metal and reminding us that innovation in the genre is far from dead. Immutable proves that Meshuggah show no signs of following any trends as they stand true to their sound and integrity. There is also a respectable level of experimentation while Meshuggah retains their signature sound. Despite all of this, you still can not help but feel that at times certain elements have been regurgitated. Nonetheless still a very solid, effective, and ambitious.
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Last Rites
Offering just enough in the freshness department helps Immutable overcome these minor inconsistencies, while also ensuring that it will stick in fans’ minds much longer than most albums released by bands entering their fourth decades. Veteran-era Meshuggah obviously survives through the small adjustments, relying on their performance mastery and riff craft to carry them to success. This means that they probably won’t ever make another Catch Thirtythree-level artistic statement, but if they can keep putting out records as devastating as Immutable, they’ll be just fine.
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Louder Than War
Meshuggah, with their incredible new album Immutable, continue to lead the way in producing dazzling and experimental metal.
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Man of Much Metal
Add in some very demonstrable death metal nuances within ‘I Am That Thirst’, a hypnotic groove within ‘The Faultless’ and the all-out balls-to-the-wall speedy aggression at the outset of ‘’Armies Of The Preposterous’, and you hopefully get the idea just how varied and dynamic this record truly is, and why I like it more than any other Meshuggah record in their now nine-deep discography. It may be a little too long but that’s literally the only gripe I have. In every other way, it’s Meshuggah. But more than that, it’s Meshuggah at their glorious best. And that means that with ‘Immutable’, we’re in the presence of heavy metal greatness.
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Loud Magazine
There is no band like Meshuggah. While their idiosyncratic style has given birth to a raft of tropes that now litter the heavy and extreme music landscape, they remain unique. The longest gap ever between recordings only appears to have made the Swedish bruisers both more focused and more impenetrable, claustrophobic and indecipherable.
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New Noise Magazine
It’s refreshing to see an influential band—giving birth to sub-genres and countless derivatives—still pushing their own limits and taking risks musically after 30-plus years in the game.
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HeadBangers Lifestyle
‘Immutable’ has everything a Meshuggah fan loves and even more. It sounds like the already diverse layers of music have been multiplied even more. I remember them playing 8-string guitars, not sure how many strings are involved today on this record, but it sounds like a lot. Intense, fearless and brutal summarizes the thirteen tracks perfectly. Thirty years on the throne, the band isn’t tired at all to defend their spot on top for many years to come.
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Sea of Tranquility
Immutable has quickly become my favorite Meshuggah album since 2008's obZen. It's sure to rank pretty high for top heavy metal albums of 2022 when the year draws to a close.
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mxdwn Music
Immutable is an incredible addition to Meshuggah’s already impressive resume. The beats are reminiscent of what makes Meshuggah’s music so enjoyable without sounding repetitive. Immutable can keep every sound fresh from song to song, making for an exceptional way to celebrate the group’s thirty-five-year run.
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Rock 'N' Load Magazine
So, how does Immutable compare to the previously mentioned masterpieces? There is no doubt that this is up there with them. The way that Meshuggah continue to smash through traditional genre lines and continue to fine-tune keeps their head and shoulders above everyone and everything else.
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Devolution Magazine
Immutable is less full on than previous works. It’s a long sixty six minutes and you’re given time to breathe between the blast beats. A wise move. Could Meshuggah be considered the Pink Floyd of metal? On this outing they’ve earned the right for a nomination at least. You just have to wonder what they’ll come up with next.
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Metal Wani
Immutable is a win for the Meshuggah future breed machine. A hefty piece of groovy, aggressively confusing, yet satisfying slab of progressive djent metal. Modern Meshuggah shows us that they are still relentless and uncompromising in their message, unyielding to current trends…. IMMUTABLE!
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Wall of Sound
There is no apology from Meshuggah for mixing things up with this one. But this is a band rooted in a core sound discovered and unleashed on the world decades ago. Immutable is perfectly titled as the album itself is a sign that Meshuggah are comfortable with who they are, even though they continue to evolve as artists within the scope of what they do so well.
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Everything is Noise
Meshuggah returns to form on Immutable, sprouting forth an album of monolithic proportions inflated with their signature aural dish of eternally contorting and tortuous demolition.
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Spectrum Culture
A brutal, but somewhat monotonous, return from the Swedish behemoth.
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Heavy Magazine
Immutable is the soundtrack for our current state of worldwide bleakness, just as Meshuggah are the warriors forging the way forward to meet our confronting grinding halt.
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Punktastic
As far as ninth albums go and a bands first in six years, its clear to hear Meshuggah haven’t lost their touch of what makes them one of the best talents the metal scene has to offer on ‘Immutable’. Captivating and colossal, Meshuggah are back and better than ever.
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Dead Rhetoric
Meshuggah continually fills that niche between intricate polyrhythm/djent metal and moody aggression with foresight and groove to create a style that’s unique, moving, and all their own. Immutable won’t detract the faithful, and probably bring more into the fold – an ideal winning combination to sustain appeal.
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Exclaim!
For all its frenetic bombshells, Immutable's success ultimately lies in its attention to detail. Closing track "Past Tense" feels no less thought-out than its counterparts in delicate soundscapes and harmonic interplay. Meshuggah haven't returned to impress anyone but themselves. This is the music they like playing. It just happens to sound unlike anything else in metal. After 30-plus years in the game, Meshuggah have neither quelled their thirst for tectonic frenzy nor dried their well of dexterous musicality.
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The Moshville Times
Immutable moves Meshuggah forward another level, if one exists, for this is a band who truly place no limits on their explorative and expansive abilities. Always ahead of the game and their peers, it is a significant piece of work, which is likely to stand alongside other great records in years to come.
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No Clean Singing
Of course, Meshuggah don’t really need to change. They’ve proven they can competently, and confidently, keep delivering the same punishing platter of groove-laden goods with consummate ease, and that people will keep on craving and consuming them no matter what.
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The Progressive Aspect
Immutable isn’t an album that I get thrilled about listening to again and Meshuggah’s signature brand of metal is far from what I love most in the prog rock I listen to. Nevertheless, I am impressed with the band and with myself for finding some common ground, and I am glad to have discovered some joy in the dark bowels of this Swedish beast. The secret ingredient to enjoying this style of music seems to be perseverance; if you stay with it long enough, the sheer Stockholm syndrome of being in such close proximity with this aggressive music will allow you to hear things you didn’t previously hear.
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