Meshuggah talk The Violent Sleep Of Reason inspirations

By
( )
published

Meshuggah drummer Tomas Haake explains the cover art for upcoming album The Violent Sleep Of Reason – and the inspiration behind the lyrics

Meshuggah
Meshuggah

Meshuggah drummer Tomas Haake has revealed the inspiration behind their upcoming eighth album The Violent Sleep Of Reason.

The band previously said the cover art was “inspired by a Goya painting called The Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters.” Now Haake has given more details on the creative input into the follow-up to 2012’s Koloss.

He says: “It was a hard one in the sense that you don’t immediately have a visual to the title The Violent Sleep Of Reason – how do you portray that?

“So when discussing this with Keerych Luminokaya, who also did the artwork for our 25th anniversary box set along with the artwork for Koloss, we just let him loose on that idea and how to portray that.

“What you’re seeing on the artwork is basically a human being that’s been in stasis for a long time. The vines were the original idea – they’re growing into him. But it’s a body that’s been asleep for so long that it’s been taken over something else.”

As for the lyrics behind The Violent Sleep Of Reason, Haake adds: “The whole idea of why we chose the title is to connect with the lyrical content of the album, which is to a fair degree about current events and what you see going on such a terrorism and extremist views on ideals and religious dogma, and the violent implications that you get from being asleep or not acting or reacting to what’s going on in the proper way.”

The Violent Sleep Of Reason will be released on October 7 via Nuclear Blast and can be pre-ordered on coloured vinyl and a limited edition box set, as well as in a limited digipak CD, vinyl and special vinyl picture disc. A digital version can be pre-ordered via iTunes.

A UK tour has also been announced to support the album release. Meshuggah will hit the road in January of next year, starting in Bristol on January 12. Tickets are available now.

The Violent Sleep Of Reason cover art

The Violent Sleep Of Reason cover art

Meshuggah The Violent Sleep Of Reason tracklist

  1. Clockworks
  2. Born In Dissonance
  3. MonstroCity
  4. By The Ton
  5. Violent Sleep Of Reason
  6. Ivory Tower
  7. Stifled
  8. Nostrum
  9. Our Rage Won’t Die
  10. Into Decay

Meshuggah UK tour 2017

Jan 12: Bristol O2 Academy
Jan 13: Birmingham O2 Institute
Jan 14: Nottingham Rock City
Jan 15: Glasgow O2 ABC
Jan 17: Belfast Limelight
Jan 18: Dublin Vicar Street
Jan 20: London O2 Forum

Every Meshuggah album ranked from worst to best

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more for Louder. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, The Tragically Hip, Marillion and Rush.