''Destroy Erase Improve'' is the second studio album by Swedish

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band

Meshuggah Meshuggah () is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1987. Since 2004, the band's lineup consists of founding members Jens Kidman (lead vocals) and Fredrik Thordendal (lead guitar), alongside rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, drumm ...

. It was released on 12 May 1995 by

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

. This is the first studio album to feature rhythm guitarist

Mårten Hagström Mårten Hans Hagström (born 27 April 1971) is a Swedish musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist for the extreme metal band Meshuggah. He joined the band after the release of their first album, which allowed Jens Kidman to focus on his voca ...

and the final to feature bassist Peter Nordin, as he left the band during the supporting tour due to

vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

Legacy

Describing the record as "one of the 90's definitive metallic works", Kevin Stewart-Panko argues that ''Destroy Erase Improve's'' unique fusion of genres amounted to a new "watermark" for heavy metal upon its release. Metal critic

Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of '' Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has written over twenty books ...

regards ''Destroy Erase Improve'' as the first clear demonstration of what would become the quintessential Meshuggah sound, wherein "stutter gun" riffs and "upset apple cart time signatures" are featured alongside "bone-breaking" percussion, an approach which resulted in considerable influence in the development of genres like

mathcore Mathcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk and metalcore influenced by post-hardcore, extreme metal and math rock that developed during the 1990s. Bands in the genre emphasize complex and fluctuant rhythms through the use of irregular time signatur ...

and

djent Djent () is a subgenre of progressive metal, termed for an onomatopoeia of the guitar sound that characterizes it. While sources such as ''The Guardian'' and ''Guitar World'' describe djent as a Music genre, genre, some notable musicians includi ...

. Popoff suggests that ''Destroy Erase Improve'' is the clear linchpin of Meshuggah's particular style, a "specific, nearly absurd proposal that only this band has dared to own." The album was ranked number 42 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''s ''50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time'' list. In 2017, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked ''Destroy Erase Improve'' as 77th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.' Two tracks from the album appear in the shockumentary film series '' Traces of Death'' with "Vanished" in the third installment and "Future Breed Machine" in the fourth.

Track listing

Personnel

Meshuggah

*Jens Kidman –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

Fredrik Thordendal Fredrik Carl Thordendal (born 11 February 1970) is a Swedish musician best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the extreme metal band Meshuggah, of which he is a founding member. Along with Meshuggah's rhythm guitarist Mårten ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

s *

–

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

Tomas Haake Tomas Nils Haake (born 13 July 1971) is a Swedish musician known for being the drummer and primary lyricist of the extreme metal band Meshuggah. Known for his polymeters and technical ability, Haake was named the fifth best "Modern Metal" drumm ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, voices * Peter Nordin –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

Production

* Daniel Bergstrand – mixing,

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

* Fredrik Thordendal – mixing * Meshuggah – production, cover design * Peter In De Betou – mastering (at Cutting Room,

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

) * Stefan Gillbald – cover artwork

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1995 albums Meshuggah albums Nuclear Blast albums