Tandjent
No One Will Hear Us
6.5
It seems cruel and rude to write off a band as a Meshuggah clone, and I would usually be loath to do it, but the music of this band bears such a strong resemblance to that of the aforementioned Swedes that it would be disingenuous to describe Tandjent as a wholly or even mostly original act. In fact, I’ll even go so far as to say that if you don’t enjoy Meshuggah you won’t enjoy Tandjent; yet keep in mind that the opposite is also true.
Expect the sort of trademark pounding jackhammer riffs and shouted, somewhat mechanical vocals that the genre seems to favor. No One Will Hear Us has unique aspects, however – the staccato riffs are tempered with thrashier ones that distance Tandjent somewhat from the Swedish group that I am going to try (and fail) to avoid naming too many times during this review. Furthermore, there is a fair amount of variety among the various cuts, even if they are all based upon the same blueprint. It’s all just too, well, familiar. The closing riff to “No Question” is almost cringe worthy in its similarity to Meshuggah’s canon. However, I can’t pan this release, since it is certainly well-written and well-performed despite its derivative nature. The more melodic elements employed on tracks such as “The Great Machine” are what interest me about No One Will Hear Us and what make me believe that Tandjent have a future outside of worship and imitation.
The musicianship is good, this being a requisite attribute of any band out to impersonate Meshuggah (and loathe them or love them, Thordendal and co. are capable of executing a mean polyrhythm, among their other abilities). The production is great as well. Yet while good production and musicianship are common among the albums I review, songwriting generally proves far more elusive.
Coming up with quips and puns regarding a band’s name or album title is usually a fun way to close a review, but this particular one is too easy and I’m not going to bother. Instead, I offer an earnest suggestion to Tandjent: dudes, come up with your own sound. Flat out imitation of another act, especially one as singular as Meshuggah, is a good way of ensuring that nobody will remember or care about your recorded output. Original songwriting or at the very least plagiarism of a more diverse body of work is the way to go.
