Coming off a pretty extensive tour from their 2012 record Koloss, Meshuggah plan on hunkering down early 2014 to begin writing a new record that surely will destroy the brains of most.
In a recent interview with Australia's Loud Magazine, guitarist Mårten Hagström made a comment about the band beginning to work on new material:
"So we’re basically looking to have some time off in December [after the band gets off tour in November], and then we’ve been on the road with Koloss for like two years or something, on and off. So then I guess it’s about time to start writing new stuff again."
And about what the band plans to do in terms of how it'll sound:
"I have no idea, and I never do. And I think that’s a good thing, ‘cause people sometimes say that we’re pretty unpredictable, but I don’t really think we are because we have a sound that’s been with us since at least like the None EP [from 1994], that’s very us. It doesn’t really change all that much, but it’s still a progression, and what I mean by taking a step forward is that we’re still, we’ve been around now. We’re veterans in this game, and we’re still having fun with what we do, with experimenting with the music that we want to create. So as long as it feels like we’re making it better, and as long as it feels like we’re doing something that we can at least stand for and be proud of, that’s all that we ask."
I would imagine if the band are taking time off from touring to begin writing in early 2014, or even during the down time in late 2013, then a new studio album may be immanent for late 2014/early 2015. Obviously that's 100% speculative, but it makes sense given then band's 3-4 year album cycle. The new stuff could pretty much be anything at this point; the jump in sound the band made between Catch Thirty Three in 2005 and Obzen in 2008 was insane, and then between Obzen and Koloss in 2012 was pretty much equally insane despite Koloss being the best damn produced thing they've ever done in terms of how it sounded… so here's to knowing new Meshuggah will likely be super different and amazing!
In related news, here's what Meshuggah look like at an airport (photo by Lamb of God's Randy Blythe):
