Catch Thirty-Three follows the release of last year's EP, I. Only 28 minutes in length and one song, I displayed the Swedish metallers pushing past their own boundaries of mind-bending rhythms. Although broken up into 13 tracks, Catch Thirty-Three is a 47-minute earache. Unless one is constantly paying attention to his/her personal disc player, the listener is not meant to know what "track" they are listening to during Thirty-Three's "listening experience."
The backbone sound of Thirty-Three begins during its second "track," "Imprint of the Un-Saved." A constant wailing guitar cry is layered under a barrage of bass overkill, with another guitar section to match. The programmed drums mimic the band's signature off-timed raw groove. The never-ending roller coaster takes off from there. Mere moments of Thirty-Three offer a break from its one-part symphony. "Mind's Mirrors" is highlighted by silence, guitar plucking and programmed spoken vocals. A 13-minute opus that repeats everything previously heard, "In Death--Is Death" features a last half with more guitar plucking.
The "catch" is that fans of Meshuggah are going to be disappointed.
