Mike,

I'm currently studying Messuggah's brutal effort 'Chaosphere'. Is there any other CD out there that I should focus my energies on?

wasn't too sure what you were looking for, so here a few heavy ass records that i enjoy. they're all a bit more "relate-able" to meshuggah. if you want more let me know.

CAR BOMB - centralia <-- this one out today, haven't listened to it, but really looking forward to it. the tracks on myspace have seriously caught my attention. (http://www.myspace.com/carbombcult)

MESHUGGAH - catch thirtythree <-- just as good as Chaosphere, just a little different, but still meshuggah. (http://www.myspace.com/meshuggah)

A LIFE ONCE LOST - hunter <-- like meshuggah, but not so complicated, more "americanized" watered down version, but damn good. (http://www.myspace.com/alifeoncelost)

BURST - origo <-- i'm constantly pushing this album. in my opinion, thee best release of 2006! yes, i think better than 10,000 Days. (http://www.myspace.com/burstrelapse)

NEUROSIS - the eye of every storm <-- need insperation, these guys have inspired about every post rock band out there as well as a few metal dudes. (http://www.myspace.com/officialneurosis)

PSYOPUS - ideas of reference <-- just got into these guys. i picked up their album when they came through albs about a week or two ago. very interesting brain food. (http://www.myspace.com/psyopus)

STRAPPING YOUNG LAD - the new black <-- looking for blast beats with damn good goove rhythums, this is your album, or try: NILE. (http://www.myspace.com/strappingyounglad)

THE TONY DANZA TAPDANCE EXTRAVAGANZA - another myspace discovery, haven't caught the album, but am looking forward to it once i get some money. (http://www.myspace.com/tonydanzatapdanceextravaganza)

ION DISSONANCE - see Tony Danza comment. (http://www.myspace.com/iondissonance)

DYSRHYTHMIA - these guys are pretty bad ass, caught them on tour with THE DILLENGER ESCAPE PLAN. i'm not much for dillenger mainly due to the lack of guitar riffs that catch my attention. they're (dillenger) all about drums. (http://www.myspace.com/dysrhythmiaband)

Chaosphere? C'mon, Johnny, why not try something challenging? I don't know, man. I'm listening to Cannonball Adderly's "Mercy Mercy, Mercy" album right now, which is pretty brutal also. Try pullin' off some of those sax solos on guitar. What are you looking for? Dillinger Escape Plan is pretty advanced, as far as time goes. Get back to the old school. Morbid Angel's "Covenant." I just Picked up Mike Mangini's Rhythm Knowledge books 1&2. It's "for" drummers, but I could see it being very easily adapted for guitar like replace L and R with Up and Down. I'm really having my eyes opened and getting my ass kicked by this stuff. It's cool, because you could think about something you want to work on, say like triplet hammer-ons in 13/8 alternating back an forth where your double is and jump right to a section of the book that's geared towards developing L and R independence. Good shit, and I'd encourage you to YouTube Mike Mangini. What about Death's Individual Thought Patterns, or by extension Strapping Young Lad. If you really want a kick in the stylistic nuts, check out a band called Estradasphere. Fuckers are sick.

Aaron and I were typing at the same time. And I'll second Ion Dissonance, Psyopus and Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza. Some things you also need to study are Liquid Tension Experiment and Black Light Syndrome.

quote:

Dillinger Escape Plan

dillinger... dillenger... whatever...

quote:

dillinger

Yup. Whatever.

And Aaron and I have a standing disagreement on DEP. I think their riffs are sick. Aaron is just being a girlie-band-man.

I like me some Yanni.

Which is funny, 'cause anyone can dick on Yanni all they want, but Charlie Adams, his drummer, is off the motherf-ing hook.

Perfect! Thanks fellas.. This research is just for the good Dr. Thunda and I. This is so we can increase our shredding abilities by 10 level points. I don’t plan on killing Steve with brutal riffage and 36,043 time signature changes in one song just this yet. But, we have been spoon feeding him stuff slowly and he is digesting it rather well.

I found a band a long time back that you guys would enjoy. They are called Behold.. The Arctopus and they do insane Experimental/Metal/Progressive shit on a dumbfounding level.

If you get into all that crap, we might start sounding like Plague.

quote:

Behold.. The Arctopus

...they've been on my personal list to investigate, but haven't gotten the chance as of late.

i would if i were you, asap. i have it on my laptop, with a great possibility of transferring it to a usb key, if you were so inclined...