Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects

Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects is essentially a solo project from the Meshuggah guitarist, though he's worked with other musicians like Mattias Olsson on drums and Jens Bogren on bass. The music is experimental and dissonant, built around unconventional time signatures and polyrhythms that can feel disorienting. It's not exactly easy listening.

They've put out a handful of albums since 2004, including 'Sol Niger Within' and '...Och Stjarnans Namn Var Malört' from 2014. That album's title translates to 'And the Star's Name Was Wormwood,' which gives you a sense of the atmosphere. The tracks are long, winding things with titles like 'Death at Both Ends' and 'In Reality All Is Void.'

Thordendal handles the guitars and vocals himself. The lyrics tend toward existential themes, alienation, meaning, that sort of thing, delivered in a cryptic, almost poetic style. It's music for a particular mood, or lack thereof. The project has its followers, but it's never tried to be broadly accessible.