One wonders if MESHUGGAH ever contemplates a record that lives outside of itself and breaks new ground in the same way the group's genre-creating Destroy Erase Improve did, but such a proposition becomes increasingly absurd the more you think about it: Meshuggah is the proprietor of its own unique sound, so why would these Swedes venture off into conflict zones that belong to anyone else? Koloss is a record that doesn't affect with the immediacy of '08's Obzen but that might just be the point, as Koloss is a dystopian vision of charred ground and eternal nights, the kind of album that has no business being spun at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It's difficult to determine whether Meshuggah is inspired in the wake of being recognized as the pioneer it is (2012's fascination with djent is not only overdue, but weirdly 10 years behind... where were these admirers of djent when Nothing was released? Oh yeah, still listening to ATREYU) or whether the group has genuinely decided to out-vilify itself after the art-rock of Catch 33 and the in-your-face rebound of the aforementioned Obzen. It doesn't matter though, because the band that wrote a record called Chaosphere has once again created a sound that reflects that very term and, while Koloss will never be considered Meshuggah's crowning coronation (that's Destroy Erase Improve's purpose in the legacy), this album is another encapsulation of a metal band thinking non-linearly and doing things very, very right.