My Favorite Yiddish Band

When I was growing up, my Great Grandmother would always say people were "meshugganah", which I assumed meant crazy/insane/etc. I'm not sure if her pronunciation was right or the condensed one is, but either way, I love me some Meshuggah. I first heard of/saw them in 1998 in Jacksonville, FL, opening up for Sick of it All and Slayer at Club 5. I thought they were decent, but the sound was muddy and the bill was so weird (SOIA and Slayer???) that they really never clicked with me. Both guitarists in my band loved them but I just wasn't ready for the awesome poly-rhythms and such just yet, I guess.

Over the years, I've grown to love this band and the fact that they get better and stronger with every album is not exactly hurting these dudes. Their latest LP, obZen, is a brilliant mixture of literally every component that makes Meshuggah great. It's fast, slow, driving, brutal, complex, simple, heavy as fuck, and mind-bending. Even if you don't dig the razor-mouthed vocals, the music is any music students' dream and nightmare at the same time.

So, Meshuggah came up on channel 910 (Metal) last night and I tried so desperately to sell my wife on how awesome Meshuggah is. She didn't bite. Maybe she knows it's so good, it would make her save face to not agree. That must be it.

Cheers to my Swedish, yet somewhat Yiddish friends!

"Shed"

"Bleed" (One of those songs that's so good it hurts)