Event:	Meshuggah: Immutable Swedish & Norwegian Tour 2023
Written by:	Nejde
Published:	10.04.2023

Meshuggah has embarked on a tour through Sweden and Norway, and I had the joy of attending the show in both my own and Meshuggah's hometown, Umeå. As support, they had a trio of excellent Swedish bands consisting of Scar Symmetry, Orbit Culture and The Halo Effect. Coincidentally, this show took place on Good Friday, and good it was indeed.

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The gates to the venue opened up at 17.00, well enough time to have a couple of beers before Scar Symmetry kicked off the evening at 18.00, raising the temperature considerably with a half hour set. The band also visited Umeå back in November, playing at the Northern Rockfest, and it was nice to have them back so soon. Yet again, they delivered their excellent mix of melodic death and progressive power metal, generating the first mosh pit of the evening. And it's always a joy to watch Per Nilsson, one of the few skilled enough who actually has filled in for Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah. A solid crowd warmer.




After a 20-minute break Orbit Culture entered the stage. Probably the least known band of the evening, hailing from the small town of Eksjö, a 20-minute car ride from Hultsfred, known for the Hultsfred Festival back in the day. I discovered this band back in 2013 when they released their self-titled debut EP and have been a fan ever since. They have quite a unique take on modern melodic death, not really sounding like any other band, but at the same time not really sticking out from the rest either. It's hard to explain. A band definitely worth checking out for those unfamiliar with them.

They played a 45-minute set, and the evening's first sing-along occured when they played “Strangler”. The highlight though was “The Shadowing” when the mosh pit simply sat down on the floor and started rowing, something that most people likely associate with Amon Amarth. Sadly, they had a bit of a problem with the sound in the beginning, eliminating everything but the drums twice, but it didn't really affect the overall performance.
Still, the temperature had risen considerably.





Another 20-minute break and now the crowd started getting loud because it was time for In Flames… sorry, I mean The Halo Effect to turn the venue into a melting pot. I guess everybody already know that The Halo Effect consist solely of former long time members of In Flames and Mikael Stanne, singer of Dark Tranquillity who also sang on In Flames' debut album Lunar Strain. Although tonight, guitarist Jesper Strömblad was absent, but his replacement was an equally talented guitarist, namely Patrik Jensen of The Haunted. For me, their debut album Days Of The Lost was one of the musical highlights of last year, delivering some world-class hypermelodic Gothenburg metal. This truly is the band In Flames isn't anymore, but most of us wish they still were.

Their set was a full hour but with only a 45-minute album out and not playing any In Flames songs they needed to fill that full hour, so they had a couple of aces up their sleeves. First they played, according to Stanne, a 30-year-old song which I didn't recognise, so it might've been an unreleased track. It was and faster and harder than the other songs, but still really good. Then came the real surprises to the crowd's loud cheers, two brand-new songs from a yet unnamed sophomore album! The first one was called “Become Surrender” and this is going to be an instant hit when released. Super melodic with a chorus that stuck instantly and that the crowd could sing along with by the second one. A couple of songs later, it was time for the second new song, called “The Defiant One”. This one is also gonna be a banger, even though I dare to say that “Become Surrender” was the better one of the two. They rounded everything up with “Shadowminds” and by now the euphoria was complete among the crowd. For me this was the highlight of the evening.




After another much-needed half hour break, refilling lost fluids with a beer, it was time for the headliner of the evening. The one, the only, the pride of our hometown, the mighty Meshuggah. Kicking off with a looong intro and a blacked out stage, Tomas Haake was the first one to enter, with the cheers of the crowd almost bursting through the roof. The rest of the band enters the stage, and they go full throttle instantly with the crowd going bananas. The biggest mosh pit of the evening is a fact. After the initial outburst, the crowd settles down a bit. The band takes much needed small breaks a couple of times blacking out the stage and meanwhile changing the backdrop which was very effectful when they lit the stage again, and they got back on and continued. I also need to mention the guy responsible for the light show, which is a central part of a Meshuggah performance. A couple of photos doesn't do it justice though, it needs to be experienced live. I myself was mostly focusing on Haake since that man probably isn't human.

Due to the straining nature of their music and especially for Haake they only played for an hour and ten minutes, even omitting “Bleed”, the only disappointment of the evening. At the same time, it was understandable since they are 15 years older than when they wrote the song. But at least they finished with “Future Breed Machine” putting the crowd into a final frenzy.

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The overall impression is only positive, and I had a great evening even though Orbit Culture had some technical issues with the sound and Meshuggah didn't play “Bleed”. Scar Symmetry is a solid live act, and it was fun to finally get to see Orbit Culture. The Halo Effect is a phenomenal crowd pleaser, and I'll take every chance I get to see them again in the future. And if you have the chance to see Meshuggah live, be sure to take it before they call it quits. Not playing “Bleed” might be an indication that the end might be closer than we think.