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The Violent Sleep of Reason

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The Violent Sleep of Reason
Studio album by
Meshuggah
Released7 October 2016 (2016-10-07)
RecordedPuk Recording Studios, Gjerlev, Denmark
Genre
Length58:55[1]
LabelNuclear Blast
ProducerTue Madsen, Meshuggah
Meshuggah chronology
Pitch Black
(2013) 		The Violent Sleep of Reason
(2016) 		Immutable
(2022)
Singles from The Violent Sleep of Reason
  1. "Born in Dissonance"
    Released: 25 August 2016

The Violent Sleep of Reason is the eighth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah. It was released on 7 October 2016 via Nuclear Blast.[2] This album was recorded live in the studio, simultaneously with all members, rather than recording each instrument separately as is more common for modern recording. The band announced the new album, its title, and track list via Blabbermouth.net and Revolver magazine on 5 August 2016.[3]

Background

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The album's title was loosely inspired by The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, an etching by Spanish painter Francisco Goya. The album's title and lyrical themes are a commentary on terrorism, extremist views on ideals, religious dogma, and the violent implications of "being asleep, so to speak, or not reacting to what's going on in the proper way".[4] Concerning the album artwork, Tomas Haake stated:

"It was a hard one in the sense that you don't immediately have a visual to the title The Violent Sleep of Reason – how do you portray that?

"So when discussing this with Keerych Luminokaya, who also did the artwork for our 25th anniversary box set along with the artwork for Koloss, we just let him loose on that idea and how to portray that.

"What you're seeing on the artwork is basically a human being that's been in stasis for a long time. The vines were the original idea – they're growing into him. But it's a body that's been asleep for so long that it's been taken over by something else."[5]

In an attempt to depart from the production on previous albums like Koloss and obZen, this album was recorded live. According to Haake, this allowed the band to capture their sound more "honestly" and to capture the "rawness" of albums from the late '80s and early '90s that "inspired us when we were growing up." Haake elaborated:

"If you put it all together using computers then you often have to fix problems after the fact. I've gone back to records where I've not known every drum part. And once you do that you can start with drums and then just add layers of guitars and then bass and it all sounds perfect.

"ObZen and Koloss are great albums but, to me, they are a little too perfect. It didn't really capture what we sounded like honestly.

"But where we recorded live you get to hear the push and pull, one person might be a little ahead and the other might be a little behind. If you kill that, you can kill the energy."[6]

Bassist Dick Lövgren for the first time contributed significantly to the writing of most songs for the album. Lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal wrote the least on this album than ever in his career due to rumored side project which is a second album continued from Sol Niger Within. This caused him to rollout from live performances. Mårten Hagström used a 28" scale guitar instead of 29.4" due to arthritis problems to shoulder.

Release

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In advance of the album, three songs were released on the YouTube channel of the band's record label, Nuclear Blast. "Born in Dissonance", also released as a single, was uploaded on 25 August 2016;[7] a lyric video for "Nostrum" was released on 15 September 2016,[8] while the official video for "Clockworks" was released on 7 October 2016.[9] On 20 September 2016 the band released a live play-through drum cam video of "Nostrum" highlighting Tomas Haake's drum playing.[10] There was also a live drum play-through camera released for Clockworks released on 12 October 2016, which has over 1.5 million views worldwide.[11]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic83/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
Exclaim![14]
Kerrang![15]
Pitchfork6.5/10[16]
Metal Injection[17]
MetalSucks[18]
Terrorizer8.5/10[19]

The Violent Sleep of Reason has received universal acclaim from critics and fans alike. A review by Max Frank on the popular site Metalsucks.net gave the album five out of five stars and described it as a "tour-de-force; a total deconstruction of heavy music."[18] The review focuses on a paradox between what it describes as complex composition structures that seem to critique the norms of the metal genre, and some of the band members' professed ignorance of music theory. Frank states, "Theoreticians out there might say that Violent Sleep is 'a commentary on itself.' Meshuggah would probably respond 'shut up and check out this sick riff.'"[18] Terrorizer critic Adrien Begrand called the album "masterful", saying that the band's "signature sound is all over this record", and "like every past album the formula is tinkered with, to exacting detail and precision."[19] Stefan Andonov of Prog Sphere wrote, "They continue their tradition of producing 'punch-you-in-the-face' aggressive music that is hard to follow, but The Violent Sleep of Reason will completely satisfy the fans of the band and surely attract more metalheads to fall in love with the phenomenal art they create."[20] The album was shortlisted by IMPALA (The Independent Music Companies Association) for the Album of the Year Award 2016, which rewards on a yearly basis the best album released on an independent European label.[21]

Meshuggah received a Grammy nomination for their song "Clockworks" under the "Best Metal Performance" category.[22]

Accolades

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Publication Accolade Year Rank
Metal Injection Metal Injection Writers' Overall Top 20 Albums of 2016 2016
2[23]
Loudwire 20 Best Metal Albums of 2016 2016
3[24]
Rolling Stone 20 Best Metal Albums of 2016 2016
2[25]

Track listing

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All lyrics by Tomas Haake except "Ivory Tower" by Mårten Hagström.

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Clockworks"Haake, Lövgren7:15
2."Born in Dissonance"Hagström4:34
3."MonstroCity"Haake, Lövgren6:13
4."By the Ton"Haake, Lövgren6:04
5."Violent Sleep of Reason"Haake, Lövgren6:51
6."Ivory Tower"Hagström4:59
7."Stifled"Haake, Lövgren6:31
8."Nostrum"Haake, Lövgren5:15
9."Our Rage Won't Die"Haake, Hagström4:41
10."Into Decay"Haake, Hagström6:32
Total length:58:55

Personnel

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Meshuggah

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Production

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  • Luminokaya – artwork
  • Thomas Eberger - mastering
  • Tue Madsen – mixing, engineering

Charts

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Chart (2016) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 9
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[27] 31
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[28] 47
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[29] 32
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[30] 18
Music Canada (MC)[31] 9
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[32] 60
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[33] 11
French Albums (SNEP)[34] 75
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[35] 18
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[36] 34
Italian Albums (FIMI)[37] 57
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[38] 79
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[39] 2
Scottish Albums (OCC)[40] 21
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[41] 17
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[42] 21
UK Albums (OCC)[43] 32
US Billboard 200[44] 17

References

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  1. ^ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Violent-Sleep-Reason-Meshuggah/dp/B01JZN3XQ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472215578&sr=8-1&keywords=violent+sleep+of+reason [dead link]
  2. ^ "MESHUGGAH: 'The Violent Sleep Of Reason' Album Details Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Meshuggah Announce New Album, 'The Violent Sleep of Reason'". Revolver. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  4. ^ "Meshuggah on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  5. ^ Munro, Scott (23 August 2016). "Meshuggah talk The Violent Sleep Of Reason inspirations". TeamRock.com. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Meshuggah recorded Violent Sleep Of Reason live". 19 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  7. ^ Grow, Kory (25 August 2016). "Hear Meshuggah's Mind-Bending New Song 'Born in Dissonance'". Rolling Stone Magazine. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  8. ^ "Meshuggah Release 360° Lyric Video for New Song "Nostrum"". MetalSucks. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  9. ^ MESHUGGAH - Clockworks (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
  10. ^ "MESHUGGAH: 'Nostrum' Drum Playthrough Video Available". Blabbermouth.net. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  11. ^ "MESHUGGAH: Clockworks (DRUM PLAYTHROUGH w/ TOMAS HAAKE". YouTube. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  12. ^ "The Violent Sleep of Reason by Meshuggah". Metacritic. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  13. ^ Jurek, Thom (7 October 2016). "The Violent Sleep of Reason - Meshuggah". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  14. ^ Calum Slingerland. Meshuggah The Violent Sleep of Reason. Exclaim!. Published Oct 05, 2016.
  15. ^ Kerrang! October 15, 2016. page 52.
  16. ^ Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (22 October 2016). "Meshuggah: The Violent Sleep of Reason". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  17. ^ Ulrey, Jeremy (6 October 2016). "Album review : Meshuggah The Violent Sleep of Reason". Metal Injection. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  18. ^ a b c Frank, Max (5 October 2016). "Review: Meshuggah Separate the Kids from the Grown-Ups on 'The Violent Sleep of Reason'". MetalSucks. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  19. ^ a b Begrand, Adrien (October 2016). "Meshuggah: 'The Violent Sleep Of Reason'". Terrorizer (275). Miranda Yardley: 58. ISSN 1350-6978.
  20. ^ Andonov, Stefan (12 October 2016). "Album Review: Meshuggah - the Violent Sleep of Reason". Prog Sphere. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  21. ^ "25 artists up for best independent album of the year in Europe". IMPALA. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  22. ^ Lynch, Joe. "Grammys 2018: See the Complete List of Nominees". Billboard. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  23. ^ "Metal Injection Writers' Overall Top 20 Albums of 2016". Metal Injection. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  24. ^ "20 Best Metal Albums of 2016". Loudwire. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  25. ^ "20 Best Metal Albums of 2016". Rolling Stone. 9 December 2016. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  26. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep of Reason". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  27. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep of Reason" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  28. ^ "Ultratop.be – Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep of Reason" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  29. ^ "Ultratop.be – Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep of Reason" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  30. ^ "Meshuggah Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  31. ^ "Charts - Music Canada". Music Canada. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  32. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep of Reason" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  33. ^ "Meshuggah: The Violent Sleep of Reason" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  34. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes - SNEP (Week 41, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. November 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  35. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep of Reason" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  36. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2016. 40. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  37. ^ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 41 (dal 2016-10-07 al 2016-10-13)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  38. ^ "ヴァイオレント・スリープ・オヴ・リーズン | メシュガー" [The Violent Sleep Of Reason | Meshuggah]. Oricon News. Oricon. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  39. ^ "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  40. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  41. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep of Reason". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  42. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep of Reason". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  43. ^ "Meshuggah | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  44. ^ "Meshuggah Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 October 2016.

Further reading

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