Meshuggah’s been around for thirty years now, so what could they still have left to prove? It turns out: quite a lot. This is the band who single-handedly invented progressive death metal. They brought polyrhythms into the genre, and proved that math could play a role in the music.

But since then, progressive metal has become a “me too” genre. Today, it’s filled with young upstarts offering sounds that are more populist than Meshuggah’s without sacrificing their technical strengths.

But the genre is also filled with perfectionists. Today, so many progressive death metal bands are using drum machines and computer trickery to perfect their sound that it’s becoe part of the de rigeur of making a metal record.

Not Meshuggah, though. For The Violent Sleep of Reason, the band played everything live in the studio. It’s proof that the band practices what they preach. It’s an impressive metal record, but more impressive is the band itself.

To my ears, this is also the grooviest Meshuggah has been in a long time. “Monstrosity” loosely borrows from Metallica’s “Through the Never”. “By the Ton” has some Pantera influence, notably in its verse groove.

These aren’t necessarily new sounds for Meshuggah, but they haven’t made music like this for a long time. Their records are technically proficient, often to the point of sacrificing the song for the sake of the instrumentation. But on The Violent Sleep of Reason, the music has a higher priority.

None of that is to say that Meshuggah is less proficient than they’ve been in the past. But it feels like the technicality is embedded in the music, and not the other way around. The rhythm section is as tight as always (which is impressive, given the bizarre polyrhythms and time signatures), and the vocals are as insane as ever, but most importantly, these songs are their best in over a decade.

Playing these songs live in the studio certainly adds another dimension to the record. It makes Meshuggah feel young again, like they have something new to say — even when they’re going back to basics.

And after thirty years, sometimes the most important thing is revisiting the basics.

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I use the past tense because Opeth doesn’t make death metal anymore. Sorceress is their third prog rock record. The band is more interested in musical ideas than they are in pure intensity. There isn’t any screaming on Sorceress, and the music is less aggressive than it’s ever been. (And yes, Äkerfeldt may still be one of the best singers in the genre’s history.)

With Sorceress, the band has finally grown comfortable with the sound. This is the best they’ve sounded in ten years. Äkerfeldt has developed a soundscape that brings constant variety to the band’s compositions, without making the music less challenging or absorbing.

No two tracks on Sorceress sound the same. The title track, with all its pummelling rivers, is completely different from “The Wilde Flowers” or the gorgeous “Will O The Wisp”. The songs share lyrical themes about failure and poisoned love, but they rarely share musical ideas. While most musicians write love songs, Opeth writes about love as obsession.

There’s a metaphor to be made here about the band’s songwriting, which reflects an obsession with the new. “Time waits for no one,” Mikael sings on “Will O The Wisp”. “It heals them when you die. And soon you are forgotten, a whisper within a sigh.” It’s often hard to separate Opeth’s music and lyrics from their fear of stagnation and death. They would rather reinvent themselves.

But Opeth struggles to reinvent themselves on this go-around. What hasn’t the band done at this point? If there’s a single noteworthy addition to the band’s sound, it’s a newfound appreciation for jazz.

“I started listening to jazz and bought a lot of Coltrane records,” Äkerfeldt explained in a press release.  “I never really thought Coltrane would be for me because I like ‘dinner jazz.’ Like Miles Davis’ ’50s stuff.” That transition is obvious on Sorceress. Structurally and musically, there’s more than a passing resemblance at time to John Coltrane and other heroes of jazz’s golden era. “Strange Brew” was an obvious ode to Miles Davis’ later work, as well as Coltrane.

“The Seventh Sojourn” experiments with many of the same Eastern sounds that the jazz greats experimented with decades ago. (The track could double for a film soundtrack.) Even on tracks like “Era” or “Chrysalis”, which experiment by combining jazz and rock, the band embraces experimentation and intensity without returning to old habits. They’re better for it.

The difference here between this and the last Opeth record is more subtle than ever before, but it’s noticeable if you know what to look for. But three albums into Äkerfeldt’s new vision for the band, it’s clear that nothing is safe.

Sorceress is the band’s third prog rock record,and they sound more comfortable than ever before. It’s also the band’s first record with Nuclear Blast, one of metal’s most prominent labels. But the new label doesn’t restrict them: the band continues to experiment with new sounds and styles.

For some fans, Sorceress may allow them to embrace the Acceptance phase of grief in Opeth’s new sound. But there’s a maturity here that no longer sounds like experimentation for the sake of experimentation. Simply put, it sounds like Opeth is finally comfortable being themselves. The music is great, but the band’s attitude is refreshing.

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But every year, there’s a couple metal records that come out that are well-produced and just stupidly good. This is one of those records.

A couple years ago, Lamb of God’s vocalist was (wrongly) imprisoned in the Czech Republic for the death of a fan at one of Lamb of God’s shows. And this is the first record the band has made since his release.

And he sounds mad.

This is the sort of thing that makes for a great metal record: pure, focused aggression. This is the best Lamb of God record since As the Palaces Burn, one of their earliest. They have not been this on fire for probably around a decade, if not longer. These guys sound amazing. The guitar work is insane, their drummer is a beast, and vocalist Randy Blythe sounds positively possessed.

I wouldn’t describe this as a pop record, but if you need something new to work out to at the gym, or to run to, or to listen to in rush hour traffic, this is tops.

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