Believe it or not, it’s actually not uncommon for an artist to dislike one of their most popular songs. Take Meshuggah’s Tomas Haake, for example, who really, really doesn’t like playing their mega-hit “Bleed.”
Of course, a band’s most popular song is usually the one that introduces people to them, therefore “Bleed” was likely many fans’ initial exposure to them. However, Haake told Metal Injection in an installment of their “Ask the Artist” series that he’d prefer potential fans hear another Meshuggah song first instead.
“[‘Bleed’] is not really what the band is about, necessarily. But as a teaser, yes, it’s definitely, people when they hear that the first time it’s like, ‘What the hell?’ So, in that sense, it’s I guess that,” the drummer explained. “On a personal level, I mean obviously I wish I never had to play ‘Bleed’ once in my life, but here we are! We have to do it.”
“Personally, for me, I have other aspects of the band that I really dig that are way slower and maybe atmospheric and stuff like that, like ‘Nebulous’ off of the Nothing album (2002), which is like slower and drudgier, really down-tuned and creates a completely different vibe in a room than a song like ‘Bleed’ would do,” he continued.
Check out the full interview clip below.
Unfortunately for Haake, “Bleed” is Meshuggah’s second most-played song throughout their concert history, only after “Future Breed Machine” [via Setlist.fm]. His personal preference, “Nebulous,” has only been tackled live by the group a total of 16 times since it was released in 2002. “Bleed” is also the group’s most-played song on Spotify, with more than 41 million streams.
If you’re looking to see Meshuggah tackle “Bleed” live, despite Haake’s dismay for the track, you can catch them on tour with Torche starting Sept. 16. Get tickets here.
