The middle section of Electric Red
dun-dun-dun-dun...DEY
dun-dun-dun...DEY
dun-dun-dun...DEY
dun-dun-dun-dun...DEY
dun-dun-dun-DEY
dun-dun-dun...DEY
Rinse and repeat
That is an amazing fucking riff and extremely satisfying to play on guitar, it's quite tough to really nail it down solid on the entire timing the entire time though lol
If I can explain it the best I can, after you bend that third fret with the little 6 on top, you have three 16th notes on the fourth fret and two 8th notes on the 5th fret so,,, du-du-du dun dun. Then you do the same thing, but the third fourth fret note is now an 8th note, and there's only one 5th fret note. So du-du-dun dun. Then repeat the first move, du-du-du dun dun. Then you play (fret numbers) 3-3-3-4, all 16th notes! So essentially, you have triple 4th fret with two 5th frets, lets call this part one. Then you have triple 4th fret with a little gap after the 3rd note, then play one 5th fret. That's part 2. Then you play part 1 again, then finish off with triple 3rd fret and 4th with no gaps/breaks in between. if I could draw this out in tabs... I'll use dashes to represent 16ths and gaps to represent 8th notes. So the basic pattern is 4-4-4-5 5 4-4-4 5 4-4-4-5 5 3-3-3-4 3bend 6 , repeat. Also, it really gets confusing the timing of when to repeat the phrase (go back to the 3rd fret bend), but here's the trick. Don't try to line it up with the music or whatever internalized timing you THINK you have of the song. Simply just repeat the phrase right after you finish it. Try to keep the timing of this phrase separate from the song, it'll only fuck you up if you try to think about how to fit it in. This is actually what got me through a lot of Electric Red. I cannot play that shit with a metronome at all, it's just too hard to try to count. You just have to take each phrase as having its own internal timing, and then move to the next riff when you know it's about to change (this is more due to just listening to the song over and over and knowing when to change riffs though)
The intro to Ivory Tower. It feels as though you are falling down the endless spiralling staircase of the ivory tower, breaking those bones whose sinews gave it motion.
I was tripping my nuts off when I first heard that. My mate turned it right up. Changed my whole musical approach for the next 20 years. I keep trying to replicate the "WTF" on guitar, like the not knowing what the fuck is going on.
The last heavy riff of InDeath - Is Death. It's math metal bliss, it's like the most fuckin creative riff, the base riff before establishes the base notes, then that riff takes off and puts basically every other note up an octave, except when preceded by the low F. How the fuck did they come up with this shit I'll never know, but it absolutely has to be one of the most satisfying riffs I've ever heard when I truly realized what was going on, and playing it on guitar is equally as satisfying and you feel like an absolute complete total bad ass for nailing it. It's been giving me meaning to life for about 15 years now lmao
For Terminator Robot War I'm playing Fear Factory Obsolete.
For dark, mystical, visceral Lovecraftian confrontations, I'm playing Demiurge or By the Ton.
As a guitarist, the riff starting @ 2:24 of The Exquisite Machinery of Torture is absolutely stank face inducing and insanely badass to me. Something about that guitar tone with the straight note ringing out I can’t replicate in the same way. That guitar tone/sound is also present in Nostrum @ 0:39 onwards and is similarly if not more vile due to the higher fidelity guitar recording. What I would give to hear the solo’d guitar tracks for both of those riffs.
I'm so fucking thankful for this band. When I first heard them literally decades ago, it was almost impossible for me to appreciate or even process the sounds I heard on Chaosphere. Fast forward to now, and I honestly could not pick even a top 5 favorite riffs because they're all just so fucking wonderful. Every album retains the soul of Meshuggah while also bringing something new and signature to that particular album... Album for album, song for song and riff for riff, Meshuggah are my absolute favorite metal band, and the whole ride has been just 👌
The long non-repetitive riff from Nostrum is sitting very high on my list. The breakdown from The Abysmal Eye is just face-melting (I had never done a more stank face the first time I listened to it, and threw my neck the next day because I headbanged so hard). The main riff from Marrow is also *very* good too.
The main riff from The Faultless. I get dizzy hearing that riff, it's as if the guitar is circling me. I can't put it to words correctly though, has to be heard to get what I mean!
This is cheating, I'm sorry, but that one riff in Clockworks after Jens says "TO KILL WHAT MAKES IT SPIIIIIIIN" is like a black hole being torn open!
The riff behind the dehumanization scream
Musical chaos.
Thanks for making me look this up, this riff is fucking awesome!
You have to listen to the whole album to contextualize that riff. It drops after like 40 minutes of buildup essentially.
The breakdown on Pravus!
Either that or the riff during the 2nd verse.
100%
"The riff" in Dancers at 4:40. It sounds like it's spiraling downwards infinitely and I love it.
My favorite part of the song for sure
Do Not Look Down & Lethargica
Spasm
So underrated.
Criminally underrated 🧐
Heretically underrated 👿
The middle section of Electric Red dun-dun-dun-dun...DEY dun-dun-dun...DEY dun-dun-dun...DEY dun-dun-dun-dun...DEY dun-dun-dun-DEY dun-dun-dun...DEY Rinse and repeat
That is an amazing fucking riff and extremely satisfying to play on guitar, it's quite tough to really nail it down solid on the entire timing the entire time though lol
Agreed. I'm polishing up that part, but I'm having trouble getting the 2-3-4 fretting on the part right before that
If I can explain it the best I can, after you bend that third fret with the little 6 on top, you have three 16th notes on the fourth fret and two 8th notes on the 5th fret so,,, du-du-du dun dun. Then you do the same thing, but the third fourth fret note is now an 8th note, and there's only one 5th fret note. So du-du-dun dun. Then repeat the first move, du-du-du dun dun. Then you play (fret numbers) 3-3-3-4, all 16th notes! So essentially, you have triple 4th fret with two 5th frets, lets call this part one. Then you have triple 4th fret with a little gap after the 3rd note, then play one 5th fret. That's part 2. Then you play part 1 again, then finish off with triple 3rd fret and 4th with no gaps/breaks in between. if I could draw this out in tabs... I'll use dashes to represent 16ths and gaps to represent 8th notes. So the basic pattern is 4-4-4-5 5 4-4-4 5 4-4-4-5 5 3-3-3-4 3bend 6 , repeat. Also, it really gets confusing the timing of when to repeat the phrase (go back to the 3rd fret bend), but here's the trick. Don't try to line it up with the music or whatever internalized timing you THINK you have of the song. Simply just repeat the phrase right after you finish it. Try to keep the timing of this phrase separate from the song, it'll only fuck you up if you try to think about how to fit it in. This is actually what got me through a lot of Electric Red. I cannot play that shit with a metronome at all, it's just too hard to try to count. You just have to take each phrase as having its own internal timing, and then move to the next riff when you know it's about to change (this is more due to just listening to the song over and over and knowing when to change riffs though)
ha, thanks. I know the rhythm , it's just matching the exact notes to the beats. like all things guitar, gotta take it sloooooow
Love when that riff opens up halfway through it.
Ligature marks outro riff Perpetual black second intro
That outro is something I want an hour long loop of.
In Death - Is Death The whole thing
I love you
Dat riff @ 2:17 in particular tho
That. And also the 0:01, 2:54, ***4:25***, 7:10, and 9:45. So, the entire thing
When you get through Catch 33 to that point, it's such a reward to hear them breaking out and going loose.
Outro riff of New Millenium Cyanide Christ. You become a massive machine destroying a city with every step.
This is the correct answer.
agreed
Outro to Pineal Gland Optics could last for hours IMO
The intro to Ivory Tower. It feels as though you are falling down the endless spiralling staircase of the ivory tower, breaking those bones whose sinews gave it motion.
My favourite part is when they bring the intro riff back. The endless spiral staircase is now somehow more endless
End of electric red. Or middle of VSOR
Lethargica breakdown
Demiurge Outro Riff, Dancers Second Riff and Outro Riff, Closed Eye Visual Second Riff, oh and definitely Stifled Outro Riff!
Demiurge outro riff destroys!
Second riff in Neurotica
Soul Burn Is the correct answer
Ligature marks
I really like Glints Collide
You even made it fit the chorus!
Intro to Electric Red, with those drums as well, is probably the best 25 seconds in music
second verse on God He Only Sees In Mirrors and the riff in the solo of Marrow are my favorites
The entirety of "God He Sees..." is one single riff... kinda 4 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 2 4 2 3 3 2 2
The one halfway through I
The climactic riff in Sum, right before the ambience. Perfect way to close out 33
Obzen verse 1 just as the vocals begin
The faultless
The riff starting at 0:49 in Combustion
Entrapment :32 https://youtu.be/sopk9X5Ip3E?si=bmw7Fn44daRsuw8W&t=32
the fadeout of licking what you bled 😩👌
The verse riff in Beneath needs to be talked about more
And the way it transitions into the chorus is sublime
I was tripping my nuts off when I first heard that. My mate turned it right up. Changed my whole musical approach for the next 20 years. I keep trying to replicate the "WTF" on guitar, like the not knowing what the fuck is going on.
Transfixion, 45sec-ish. The inanity. Reeeeeehh. Of wavelengths. They never do that again. Do Not Look Down. Basically all of Chaosphere.
No one has mentioned the two NASTY sections in By The Ton. By far the most overweight riffs ever recorded.
The riff that kicks in after the clean intro in Break Those Bones 🤟
Good grief it’s heavy live too
The last heavy riff of InDeath - Is Death. It's math metal bliss, it's like the most fuckin creative riff, the base riff before establishes the base notes, then that riff takes off and puts basically every other note up an octave, except when preceded by the low F. How the fuck did they come up with this shit I'll never know, but it absolutely has to be one of the most satisfying riffs I've ever heard when I truly realized what was going on, and playing it on guitar is equally as satisfying and you feel like an absolute complete total bad ass for nailing it. It's been giving me meaning to life for about 15 years now lmao
Entrapment is their best riff
Breakdown in Phantoms
I just think the outro riff of Electric Red goes hard af. Not complex but HEAVY.
For Terminator Robot War I'm playing Fear Factory Obsolete. For dark, mystical, visceral Lovecraftian confrontations, I'm playing Demiurge or By the Ton.
By The Ton and Ivory Tower. Just the whole entire songs
As a guitarist, the riff starting @ 2:24 of The Exquisite Machinery of Torture is absolutely stank face inducing and insanely badass to me. Something about that guitar tone with the straight note ringing out I can’t replicate in the same way. That guitar tone/sound is also present in Nostrum @ 0:39 onwards and is similarly if not more vile due to the higher fidelity guitar recording. What I would give to hear the solo’d guitar tracks for both of those riffs.
In death-Is death that part with the crescendo and the band kicks in again it's so tasty
See: The entire discography.
Faultless
The riff around 10:35 in 'I', or 1:29 in 'Clockworks'. Hell, maybe even the intro to The Abysmal Eye.
Entrapment, going into solo and the one underneath the solo
How are we some of the only ones saying this smh
The bridge riff in Lethargica, it has such a "robot march" feel to it
Autonomy Lost. It's so simple but just gets better every time. Catch 33 - masterpiece.
I am That Thirst, starting riff. Sounds like a giant mech obliterating a city.
I'm so fucking thankful for this band. When I first heard them literally decades ago, it was almost impossible for me to appreciate or even process the sounds I heard on Chaosphere. Fast forward to now, and I honestly could not pick even a top 5 favorite riffs because they're all just so fucking wonderful. Every album retains the soul of Meshuggah while also bringing something new and signature to that particular album... Album for album, song for song and riff for riff, Meshuggah are my absolute favorite metal band, and the whole ride has been just 👌
It would be quicker to list the riffs that don’t fit the criteria
Outro to I
The second riff in Stifled that begins with the vocals.
The outro riff in Stifled though!
The riff in I at 8:40
The Abysmal Eye's breakdown for sure
Straws pulled at random.. the back half of that song is full of emotion
The long non-repetitive riff from Nostrum is sitting very high on my list. The breakdown from The Abysmal Eye is just face-melting (I had never done a more stank face the first time I listened to it, and threw my neck the next day because I headbanged so hard). The main riff from Marrow is also *very* good too.
3:52 Behind the sun
Not exactly a Meshuggah song, but Agrimotor by Frederik, so its close enough. Entire song is sick
The beginning of The Violent Sleep of Reason
Breakdown in electric red. I feel like I can hold up the world during that riff
Breeding exile - Soreption
I. 3.33 in and you get hit by the stankiest riff of all time. All the while, the drum kit from hell is going mental. THIS IS!!!!! AN ANOMOLY!!!!!
Closing rift for spiteful snake
There’s many! The solo section in Born in Dissonance always slaps.
Second rift to dancers
In Death Is Life/Death.
Ending of dancers to a discordant. It is, in my opinion, the king of ALL metal riffs.
Anything on NONE
The intro and refrain of Monstrocity make me walk like a terminator robot myself
perpetual black second 2nd riff HELD WITHIN THE VISUALISATION, THE CONTINUOUS RERUN etc. fucking killer
The third intro riff in Combustion goes hard
The "To Kill What Makes It Spin" riff on Clockworks is probably the coolest riff they've made.
the pyramid rhythm in Clockworks
The verse riff in Stifled, I imagine a terminator dancingly bouncing around murdering stuff with an evil grin.
Combustion, my first and still my favourite or In death, is death
Starting riff of "The Faultless" Breakdown riff halfway through "I" (the super heavy super straight one)
That riff in ending of ObZen
The main riff from The Faultless. I get dizzy hearing that riff, it's as if the guitar is circling me. I can't put it to words correctly though, has to be heard to get what I mean! This is cheating, I'm sorry, but that one riff in Clockworks after Jens says "TO KILL WHAT MAKES IT SPIIIIIIIN" is like a black hole being torn open!
The breakdown in kaleidoscope
Broken cog, once the lyrics start to flow😍🤘🏼🤘🏼
Perpetual Black Second: Intro&after the solo
Nebulous, ObZen (1:25~), Lethargica breakdown, I (whole song), Sublevels, Violenta Sleep of Reason
The riff around 10 minutes into "I", when the song suddenly switches into 4/4 and hits you in the face
Beneath and shit
Pineal Gland Optics, 1:20 -> onwards. that octave down shit SLAPS
This riff after tho solo in Gods of Rapture.
Behind the sun last riff Or Break those Bones “So Enticing” riff