Meshuggah The Violent Sleep of Reason

Wincent, the Swedish company that produces high-quality drumsticks, rods and brushes, recently visited the studio of Swedish experimental extreme metallers MESHUGGAH to get a report on the creation of the band's next studio album.

In 2014, MESHUGGAH was awarded an exclusive scholarship for its services to the Swedish and international music scene. The musicians were presented with the scholarship and diploma by SKAP president Alfons Karabuda at an intimate event in the south side of Stockholm in December.

Asked what MESHUGGAH has been up to the last few months, the band's guitarist, guitarist Mårten Hagström, told Nev Pearce of Australia's "Rabid Noise" podcast last November: "We've been touring up until July this summer when we stopped doing the first leg of our 25th-anniversary touring that we kicked off. We finished off the 'Koloss' touring for 'The Ophidian Trek', and then we went into doing some shows to kind of commemorate the fact that we're old fuckers now and have been around for too long. That's what we've been up to. And then we've been wrapping things up for this album and taking care of some things on the administrative side that are not so fun to take care of. And then, right now, we're starting to get back into some kind of writing mode. It's early stages yet, but we're messing around with new ideas and stuff."

Regarding what stage of the writing process MESHUGGAH is in right now for the follow-up to 2012's "Koloss", Mårten said: "[We're] mainly just sending stuff back and forth. I've been sitting down the last few weeks at home working by himself. I know Tomas [Haake, drums] has been working a little bit with Dick [Lövgren, bass], but mostly by himself as well. And that's generally how it goes for us. I mean, it doesn't get to be, kind of, a band effort until we've got something to stand on, some ideas and some half songs here and there that we can all dig into, cool stuff that might make it to the next album. And then everybody gets into the process and then it gets snowballing from there, it gets bigger and bigger real fast. But the early stages are always real slow, and that's where we're at now. But we're not rushing anything."

Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the recording of its first EP, MESHUGGAH released a concert DVD / 2CD set and Blu-ray, "The Ophidian Trek", on September 30, 2014 via Nuclear Blast. With visual footage shot in the U.S. and Europe during "The Ophidian Trek" tour and festival footage from Wacken Open Air 2013 in Germany, the live audio was processed and edited by MESHUGGAH guitarist Fredrik Thordendal, mixed by Daniel Begstrand (DIMMU BORGIR, BEHEMOTH) and mastered by Mats "Limpan" Lindfors (ROXETTE, OPETH, MANDO DIAO).

"The Ophidian Trek" is MESHUGGAH's second live DVD, the first being 2010's "Alive", which debuted at position No. 8 on the Billboard Music DVD chart.

Swedish experimental extreme metallers MESHUGGAH have set "The Violent Sleep Of Reason" as the title of their new album, due on October 7 via Nuclear Blast.

The CD's title and artwork were apparently revealed in the new issue of Revolver magazine, which features a full-page ad for the effort.

MESHUGGAH guitarist Mårten Hagström told RockSverige.se last year that he doesn't usually check out any new music for inspiration when composing material for the band. He said: "Since we're in writing mode, I don't listen to music, basically, at all. Not because 'I'm not gonna listen to music,' but it's just that… When you've got a lot of stuff to do… You know, I pick up the kid, go home, feed him, put him to bed, and then it's time for me to work, and I sit and play guitar for… whatever… many hours and try to make some new music, it's not like I'm gonna kick back and put on an album, regardless of style. But I listen to a lot of stuff; we all do. We don't listen to the same stuff, but we spread a lot. So we listen to metal, we listen to… anything, basically."

As previously reported, MESHUGGAH will release the ultimate collectors' piece, the "25 Years Of Musical Deviance" box set, on July 29 via Nuclear Blast. The set is limited to 1,000 units worldwide; only 585 will be available in the U.S. exclusively via the Nuclear Blast webshop.

MESHUGGAH will embark on a North American headlining tour in October. Support on the trek will come from U.S. metallers HIGH ON FIRE.

1. Clockworks
2. Born in Dissonance
3. Monstrocity
4. By the Ton
5. Violent Sleep of Reason
6. Ivory Tower
7. Stifled
8. Nostrum
9. Our Rage Won't Die
10. Into Decay

Swedish extreme technical metal pioneers MESHUGGAH reveal the title of the upcoming eighth album, The Violent Sleep of Reason. Inspired by a Goya painting called "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters,"