Destroy Erase Improve

Destroy Erase Improve
Studio album by Meshuggah
Released	July 25, 1995
Recorded	February 1995 at Soundfront Studios, Uppsala, Sweden
Genre	Extreme metal, progressive metal, avant-garde metal
Length	46:31
Label	Nuclear Blast
Producer	Daniel Bergstrand, Meshuggah
Meshuggah chronology
Selfcaged (1995) Destroy Erase Improve (1995) The True Human Design (1997)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Pitchfork	7.9/10[2]

Destroy Erase Improve is the second full-length album by Swedish metal band Meshuggah. It was released on July 25, 1995, by Nuclear Blast. This is the first studio album to feature rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström. Bassist Peter Nordin left the band during the supporting tour due to vertigo.

Legacy

Describing the record as "one of the 90's definitive metallic works", Kevin Stewart-Panko argues that Destroy Erase Improve's unique fusion of genres amounted to a new "watermark" for heavy metal upon its release.^[3] Metal critic Martin Popoff regards Destroy Erase Improve as the first clear demonstration of what would become the quintessential Meshuggah sound, wherein "stutter gun" riffs and "upset apple cart time signatures" are featured alongside "bone-breaking" percussion, an approach which resulted in considerable influence in the development of genres like mathcore and djent.^[4] Popoff suggests that Destroy Erase Improve is the clear linchpin of Meshuggah's particular style, a "specific, nearly absurd proposal that only this band has dared to own."^[5]

The album was ranked number 42 on Rolling Stone's 50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time list.^[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Future Breed Machine"	Haake	Thordendal	5:48
2.	"Beneath"	Haake	Thordendal	5:38
3.	"Soul Burn"	Haake	Haake, Thordendal	5:17
4.	"Transfixion"	Haake	Hagström, Thordendal	3:33
5.	"Vanished"	Haake	Thordendal	5:04
6.	"Acrid Placidity"	(instrumental)	Hagström	3:15
7.	"Inside What's Within Behind"	Haake	Kidman, Thordendal	4:30
8.	"Terminal Illusions"	Kidman	Thordendal	3:47
9.	"Suffer in Truth"	Kidman	Kidman	4:19
10.	"Sublevels"	Haake	Thordendal	5:14
11.	"Humiliative" (Japanese bonus track)	Haake	Kidman, Thordendal	5:15
12.	"Ritual" (Japanese bonus track)	Kidman	Kidman	6:15
13.	"Gods of Rapture" (live, Japanese bonus track)	Haake	Thordendal	4:55

Personnel

Meshuggah

• Jens Kidman – lead vocals
• Fredrik Thordendal – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, synthesizers
• Mårten Hagström – rhythm guitar
• Tomas Haake – drums, vocals (on "Inside What's Within Behind", "Suffer in Truth", and "Sublevels")
• Peter Nordin – bass

Production

• Daniel Bergstrand – mixing, engineering, production
• Fredrik Thordendal – mixing
• Meshuggah – production, cover design
• Peter In De Betou – mastering (at Cutting Room, Stockholm)
• Stefan Gillbald – cover artwork

References

1. http://www.allmusic.com/album/destroy-erase-improve-r228054/review
2. Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (August 1, 2016). "Meshuggah - 25 Years of Musical Deviance". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
3. Stewart-Panko, Kevin (2009). Mudrian, Albert, ed. Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces. Da Capo Press. p. 213. ISBN 9780306818066.
4. Popoff, Martin (2003). The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time. ECW Press. p. 342. ISBN 1550225308.
5. Popoff, Martin (2004). The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time. ECW Press. p. 305. ISBN 1550226002.
6. "50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.