[Editor's Note: Longtime concert photographer Andrew Youssef found out almost two years ago that he had Stage IV Colon Cancer. In that time, he has continued to shoot tons of music events for our sister paper OC Weekly on top of other freelance work and working a day job at a hospital, of all places. As he continues to fight for his life, this series allows him to tell his story in his own words.]
Lindsey Best Andrew Youssef
I can still remember being at a Tower Records listening station back in 1998 and being blown away by the brutality of Meshuggah's album Chaosphere. It was the heaviest thing I had heard to date and I immediately went to the counter to purchase the album and call my brother to tell him about this new amazing band that I found.
Based in Sweden, Meshuggah is an extreme metal band that features the growling vocal stylings of Jens Kidman, earth-shaking bass of Dick Lovgren, the pulsating drums of Tomas Haake, my eight string guitar heroes Frederik Thordendal and Marten Hagstrom. Releasing albums approximately every three to four years, when Meshuggah tours one must take special note to see them play as they usually tour once in the States per album cycle.
By Andrew Youssef
