| Contradictions Collapse | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1 May 1991 | |||
| Recorded | Umeå, Sweden | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 56:19 | |||
| Label | Nuclear Blast | |||
| Meshuggah chronology | ||||
| ||||
Contradictions Collapse is the debut studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah. It was released on 1 May 1991 by Nuclear Blast.
Release history
A promotional cassette of the album was titled (All This Because of) Greed and included Qualms of Reality and We'll Never See the Day.1
Four tracks from the None EP were included as bonus tracks on the 1999 reissue,2 in addition to the 2008 reissue,3 which was released by Nuclear Blast in 2008 as the Reloaded edition.2
Music
The album leans more towards a thrash metal sound than the band's later works,4 featuring "heavy riffs", as well as "industrial dance in the drum patterns."5 It is the only album to feature Jens Kidman on rhythm guitar, as well as Fredrik Thordendal on lead vocals in some tracks.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 8/106 |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |   7 |
| Pitchfork | 5.2/108 |
AllMusic critic Steve Huey wrote: "Although it's not quite as accomplished as their later work, it's certainly a worthwhile listen, especially for devoted fans."5
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Paralyzing Ignorance" | Jens Kidman | Kidman, Fredrik Thordendal | Kidman | 4:27 |
| 2. | "Erroneous Manipulation" | Kidman, Thordendal | Thordendal, Johan Sjögren | Thordendal | 6:20 |
| 3. | "Abnegating Cecity" | Tomas Haake | Kidman, Thordendal, Haake | Thordendal | 6:28 |
| 4. | "Internal Evidence" | Kidman | Kidman, Thordendal | Kidman | 7:26 |
| 5. | "Qualms of Reality" | Haake | Kidman, Thordendal | Thordendal | 7:02 |
| 6. | "We'll Never See the Day" | Kidman | Kidman, Niklas Lundgren | Kidman | 6:02 |
| 7. | "Greed" | Kidman, Thordendal | Kidman, Thordendal | Thordendal | 7:05 |
| 8. | "Choirs of Devastation" | Haake, Thordendal | Haake, Thordendal | Haake | 3:59 |
| 9. | "Cadaverous Mastication" | Kidman, Thordendal | Kidman, Thordendal, Lundgren | Kidman | 7:29 |
| Total length: | 56:19 | ||||
1999 reissue
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Humiliative" | 5:17 |
| 11. | "Sickening" | 5:46 |
| 12. | "Ritual" | 6:16 |
| 13. | "Gods of Rapture" | 5:09 |
| Total length: | 78:48 | |
Personnel
Meshuggah
- Jens Kidman − rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (tracks 1, 4, 6, and 9)
- Fredrik Thordendal − lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (tracks 2, 3, 5, and 7), sitar (track 6)9
- Peter Nordin − bass guitar, backing vocals (track 3)10
- Tomas Haake − drums, backing vocals, spoken vocals (track 8)
- Mårten Hagström – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (tracks 10, 11, 12 and 13)
References
References
- "Contradictions Collapse - 1991". Meshuggah. Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
- Pardo, Pete (14 October 2008). "Meshuggah: Contradictions Collapse-Reloaded". Sea of Tranquility. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- Henderson, Alex. "None Review by Alex Henderson". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- Cory, Ian (23 July 2015). "Twenty Against Ten (years later) – Meshuggah from Destroy Erase Improve to Catch Thirtythree". Invisible Oranges. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- Huey, Steve. "Contradictions Collapse/None Review by Steve Huey". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
- Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). "Meshuggah". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5 (4th ed.). MUZE. p. 722. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
- Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (1 August 2016). "Meshuggah – 25 Years of Musical Deviance". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- "Meshuggah - Making of Contradictions Collapse 1991 Studio Recording Footage". YouTube. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- "Meshuggah - Making of Contradictions Collapse 1991 Studio Recording Footage". YouTube. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2026.