Meshuggah - Chaosphere

This post isn't really specific to this record (I posted it because Chaosphere is the first Meshuggah record I ever heard), I just need an excuse to talk about Tomas Haake. Haake, in my opinion, personifies the last modern development in drumming. His style, while not completely unique, takes style elements originating from guys like Karl Bartos (Kraftwerk) and Bill Rieflin (Ministry, NIN, KMFDM) and blends them with components of drumming that were not available to drummers pre-1995ish.

Along with playing like a meth addled schizophrenic, Haake manages to layer complicated polyrhythms on top of each other, performing them seamlessly in perfect time. While he isn't the first, Haake is better than everyone else at doing it, and it's because of how he taught himself.

When I posted that Silver Apples record a month ago, I spoke a little about how Danny Taylor tried to play drums as robotic and mechanical as possible. This kicked off a trend that continued for years, but it didn't really culminate until Haake came along. Along with playing drums like a machine, he became the machine by using the most modern technology available to him. I'm not sure if this was happening during the recording of Chaosphere, but he eventually began to program his drum parts first, regardless of whether he could physically play them or not. His hands would eventually catch up to his mind.

While he always was great at complicated drum parts, being able to hear them while learning gave him an edge over other similar drummers. He then took it further with each consecutive record.

Basically this might be one of the last original developments in drumming. People will always further the technology (and the music will go along with it), but it will always have a root in Meshuggah. Every time I hear Neurotica I still try and count it out.

Audio/Visual evidence : New Millenium Cyanide Christ, Exquisite Machinery of Torture, Neurotica.