Meshuggah Remains Immutable at The Tabernacle
In heavy metal there are a number of songs that most fans of the genre can instantly recognize and have a visceral reaction to. Several Pantera songs like “Cowboys from Hell” or “Domination”; that gnarly opening riff to “Reign in Blood” by Slayer. Metal is a vast genre but very few bands reach the point where at least one of their songs is engrained in metal culture. But turn on “Bleed” by Meshuggah and this is likely to be the case. The metal legends recently made a stop at The Tabernacle in Atlanta and brought fellow Swedes In Flames and Miami-based Torche. ConcertHopper was lucky enough to be on hand to soak it all in and we’d like to share our thoughts on the show with you.
First to take the stage was Torche and the evening was a special one for the band. The Atlanta stop happened to be the last stop of the tour after the venue was upgraded due to selling out Buckhead Theater so quickly. Along with this being the last stop of the tour, vocalist Steve Brooks had announced in May that this tour was his last with the band, this prompted the band as a whole to announce they were calling it quits. This made the Atlanta show the band’s last show ever. As a result, those in attendance were given a potent and powerful performance where the band laid it all out on the stage. It’s sad to see such groundbreaking artists and historic acts calling it quits, both on the musical front and the human rights front. Brooks is one of the few openly gay metal musicians. Fans lined up to say goodbye and Brooks in particular stayed in the merch area throughout the show to speak to fans and pose for photos.
Next to take the stage was In Flames. We’ve been fortunate enough to see In Flames on the Metal Tour of the Year last year so we knew that we were in for a treat. Seeing the band outside of the arena setting was an awesome treat. As always, the band crushed it with their performance which was full of energy which the crowd poured back out at them. Several times throughout the set the band paused performing the next song in their set because the crowd was roaring the “In Flames! In Flames!” chant at them. The band had a longer set than when we last saw them live and this allowed them to cover more of their catalog and even to play some songs from their new album Foregone.
Finally it was time for the Swedish beast that was Meshuggah to take to the stage. The band, as noted by several other musicians who were in attendance that evening, were probably one of the tightest performing acts live we’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. The band was perfectly in sync, so much so that the set was also matched beautifully by lighting adorning the stage on the sides and in their guitar and bass racks. All of this created a well-rounded and multi-sensory experience for the audience. This lead to pits breaking out and crowd surfers pouring over the barricade in droves.
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