Immutable (album) explained

Immutable is the ninth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah. It was released on April 1, 2022, via Atomic Fire Records, making it the band's first studio album to not be released through Nuclear Blast.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Background

Guitarist Mårten Hagström stated “The title Immutable fits perfectly for where we are as a band,” “We’re older now. Most of us are in our 50s now, and we’ve settled into who we are. Even though we’ve been experimenting all along, I also think we’ve been the same since day one.”

He continued: “The way we approach things and why we still make new albums, and why we still sound the way we do, it’s immutable. Humanity is immutable, too. We commit the same mistakes over and over. And we are immutable. We do what we do, and we don’t change.”^[4]

In addition, certain Meshuggah songs on Spotify leaked a URL, which was https://immutable.se/. Clicking the link would give you a teaser of the song "Ligature Marks" and the release date.^[5]

The songs "The Abysmal Eye", "Light the Shortening Fuse"^[6] and "I Am That Thirst"^[7] were published as singles before the album release. Music videos were released for "The Abysmal Eye"^[8] and "Broken Cog".^[9]

Reception

Immutable has received universal acclaim from critics with a score 83 out of 100 on Metacritic. Thom Jurek of AllMusic wrote: "Ultimately, Immutable delivers the very essence of Meshuggah. While comfortable in their collective skin, they continue expanding their reach by obliterating – hell, nearly swallowing – metal's genre boundaries in their long, relentless search for the undiscovered."

Accolades

Personnel

Meshuggah

• Jens Kidman – vocals
• Fredrik Thordendal – lead guitar on 2, 6, 8, 11
• Mårten Hagström – rhythm and lead guitars, backing vocals on 11, whispers on 1.
• Dick Lövgren – bass
• Tomas Haake – drums, spoken word on 11

Production

• Rickard Bengtsson and Staffan Karlsson – mixing
• Vlado Meller – mastering
• Luminokaya – artwork

Charts

Chart (2022)! scope="col"

Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[10]	26
Music Canada (MC)[11]	6
Italian Albums (FIMI)[12]	90
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[13]	98
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[14]	106
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[15]	58
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[16]	3

Notes and References

1. Web site: Immutable – Meshuggah. 29 March 2022. Blabbermouth.net.
2. Web site: Meshuggah's 'Immutable' Mission. Hank. Shteamer. Rollingstone.com. 15 March 2022.
3. Web site: Album review: Meshuggah – Immutable. Kerrang!. 29 March 2022 . 5 April 2022.
4. Web site: Hadusek . Jon . January 14, 2022 . Meshuggah Announce New Album Immutable, Share Teaser Video . Consequence Heavy.
5. Web site: Meshuggah Hint at New Album via Cryptic Teaser Video Exclaim! . 2022-06-07 . exclaim.ca . en-ca.
6. Web site: MESHUGGAH Releases New Single 'Light The Shortening Fuse'. 3 March 2022. Blabbermouth.net. 5 April 2022.
7. Web site: MESHUGGAH Releases New Single 'I Am That Thirst'. 24 March 2022. Blabbermouth.net. 5 April 2022.
8. Web site: MESHUGGAH Drops Music Video For New Single 'The Abysmal Eye'. 24 February 2022. Blabbermouth.net. 5 April 2022.
9. Web site: Meshuggah Premiere "Broken Cog" Music Video. 1 April 2022. Theprp.com. 5 April 2022.
10. Web site: ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart. Australian Recording Industry Association. 11 April 2022. 8 April 2022.
11. Web site: Charts - Music Canada. Music Canada. English. 16 April 2022.
12. Web site: Album – Classifica settimanale WK 14 (dal 01.04.2022 al 07.04.2022). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. it. 9 April 2022.
13. Web site: Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2022/04/06 公開. Billboard Japan. ja. February 1, 2023.
14. Web site: イミュータブル メシュガー. Immutable Meshuggah. Oricon. April 20, 2022. Japanese.
15. Web site: Meshuggah – Immutable. Productores de Música de España. El Portal de Música. 17 April 2022.
16. Web site: Veckolista Album, vecka 14. Sverigetopplistan. 8 April 2022.