Meshuggah "Destroy, Erase, Improve"

Destroy Erase Improve is the second studio album by Swedish metal band Meshuggah. It was released on 12 May 1995 by Nuclear Blast. This is the first studio album to feature rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström and the final to feature bassist Peter Nordin, as he left the band during the supporting tour due to vertigo.

Describing the record as "one of the 90's definitive metallic works", Kevin Stewart-Panko argues that Destroy Erase Improve's unique fusion of genres amounted to a new "watermark" for heavy metal upon its release. Metal critic Martin Popoff regards Destroy Erase Improve as the first clear demonstration of what would become the quintessential Meshuggah sound, wherein "stutter gun" riffs and "upset apple cart time signatures" are featured alongside "bone-breaking" percussion, an approach which resulted in considerable influence in the development of genres like mathcore and djent. Popoff suggests that Destroy Erase Improve is the clear linchpin of Meshuggah's particular style, a "specific, nearly absurd proposal that only this band has dared to own."

The album was ranked number 42 on Rolling Stone's 50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time list. In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Destroy Erase Improve as 77th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.' The song Future Breed Machine appears in the shockumentary film Traces of Death IV.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Tomas Haake, except where noted; all music is composed by Fredrik Thordendal, except where noted.

1. "Future Breed Machine" 5:48
2. "Beneath" 5:38
3. "Soul Burn" Haake/Thordendal   5:17
4. "Transfixion" Hagström/Thordendal   3:33
5. "Vanished" 5:04
6. "Acrid Placidity" (instrumental) Hagström 3:15
7. "Inside What's Within Behind"  Kidman/Thordendal   4:30
8. "Terminal Illusions" Kidman 3:47
9. "Suffer in Truth" Kidman Kidman 4:19
10. "Sublevels" 5:14

Cover design by Meshuggah.

There was also a promo version in white cardboard casing, and the disc has a picture of a brain. It says "promo 121" as well as the regular production number.

The song "Soul Burn" has been featured on The Osbournes TV series.

Destroy Erase Improve is the first Meshuggah album to feature guitarist Mårten Hagström and the last with bassist and Calipash founding member Peter Nordin, who left the band on the album's supporting tour.

Recording information:

Recorded and mixed in February, 1995 at Soundfront Studios in Uppsala, Sweden.

Mastered at Cutting Room in Stockholm, Sweden.

Co-produced by Meshuggah.