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If Chaosphere is THE Meshuggah album, then this is THE Meshuggah song. I actually think that this is the band's crowning achievement, and hasn't been topped yet. In fact, if the song I had finished the album Chaosphere, perhaps watering down Elastic to the first 6 minutes, then Chaosphere would be THE extreme metal record of the 21st century. The band just explode with technicality, virtuosity and creativity from start to finish, and although intense, you honestly shouldn't care; it never gets dull and there are short mellow sections around every corner to allow breathing space.

The most bewildering thing about I is the musicianship. Tomas Haake is literally a machine on this EP as all the drumming is programmed, but there is no escaping the world class drum patterns live. If ever they do perform this song live, I imagine all drummers will want to give up their profession for a short while. The guitarwork isn't too shabby either, with the duo of Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström working with time signatures that are next to untrackable by the human mind. Furthermore to that statement, this album has helped me come to this conclusion: Meshuggah are in fact NOT HUMAN, as no-one else in the world could possibly play this music up to speed.

Now onto some detail. Although the track is unbelievably technical on the highest level and 20 minutes in length, there aren't too many sections in question. I counted 12 in total, you may count differently, but the fact of the matter remains: this isn't a technicallity us prog-metalheads are that familiar with. The first section features a 7/8 riff that holds nothing back. The computer-Haake is playing like he has 16 arms, the guitar goes on repetitively without getting dull and the rhythmic phrasing changes more often than the tide. You will find this to be a trait of most of the album.

I will not bore you by going through all sections in detail. That is enough for you to get the idea on what this EP is all about: raw rhythmic technicallity with almost no melody whatsoever. Is it music? Of course it is. Is it progressive? A resounding yes from me. In fact, I find this one of the most progressive CDs registered on this site, for one reason alone. It pushes more boundries in musicianship and art itself than anything has for a long time. It has raised the bar by a considerable height for metal bands everywhere. It is a very important project, and deserves praise. I cannot rate it any higher than a masterpiece. Beware though: this is dark, heavy stuff. Approach with caution if you are not prepared for this sort of thing! 5 stars from me, the only EP in my small collection of them that ever gets played.