Destroy Erase Improve

Destroy Erase Improve
Studio album by
Meshuggah
Released12 May 1995 (1995-05-12)
RecordedFebruary 1995
StudiosSoundfront Studios (Uppsala, Sweden)
Genres
Length46:31
LabelNuclear Blast
ProducersDaniel Bergstrand, Meshuggah
Meshuggah chronology
Selfcaged
(1995)		 Destroy Erase Improve
(1995)		 The True Human Design
(1997)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllmusicStarStarStarStarHalf star
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal9/10
The Encyclopedia of Popular MusicStarStarStarStar
Kerrang!StarStarStar
Pitchfork7.9/10
Punknews.orgStarStarStarStarStar

Destroy Erase Improve is the second studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah, 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, the latter of whom left the band during the supporting tour due to vertigo.

Legacy

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.' Two tracks from the album appear in the shockumentary film series Traces of Death with "Vanished" in the third installment and "Future Breed Machine" in the fourth.

Track listing

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

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
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)Hagström3:16
7."Inside What's Within Behind" 
  • Kidman
  • Thordendal
4:30
8."Terminal Illusions"Kidman 3:47
9."Suffer in Truth"KidmanKidman4:20
10."Sublevels"  5:14
Total length:46:31
Japanese bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
11."Humiliative" 
  • Kidman
  • Thordendal
5:15
12."Ritual"KidmanKidman6:15
13."Gods of Rapture"  4:55
Total length:62:56
Re-release bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
11."Vanished" (demo)  5:34
12."Suffer in Truth" (demo)KidmanKidman4:19
13."Inside What's Within Behind" (demo) 
  • Kidman
  • Thordendal
4:10
14."Gods of Rapture" (live)  4:53
15."Aztec Two-Step" Meshuggah10:43
Total length:76:21

Personnel

Meshuggah

Production

Charts

Chart (2018) Peak
position
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)43

Notes

  1. ↑ Mårten Hagström revealed in an interview on November 30, 2025 that "Future Breed Machine" was written collaboratively by himself, Fredrik and Jens

References

  1. ↑ "Destroy Erase Improve - Meshuggah | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  2. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). "Meshuggah". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5 (4th ed.). MUZE. p. 722. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  4. ↑ Mörat (13 May 1995). "Albumz". Kerrang!. No. 547. EMAP. p. 48.
  5. ↑ "Meshuggah: 25 Years of Musical Deviance". Pitchfork.
  6. ↑ "Mushuggah - Destroy Erase Improve". Punknews.org.
  7. ↑ Stewart-Panko, Kevin (2009). Mudrian, Albert (ed.). Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces. Da Capo Press. p. 213. ISBN 9780306818066.
  8. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2003). The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time. ECW Press. p. 342. ISBN 1550225308.
  9. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2004). The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time. ECW Press. p. 305. ISBN 1550226002.
  10. ↑ "50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "Rolling Stone Share Their Choices for 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time'". 21 June 2017.
  12. ↑ The ProgCast. "Meshuggah's Mårten Hagström - The ProgCast with Gregg Bendian". YouTube. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  13. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Meshuggah – Destroy Erase Improve". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2021.