Review Summary: Neurosis’s new sound is in full effect now with some of the most frightening heavy metal to ever be heard.
Chapter 3: A Chronology
With
The Word as Law, Neurosis were signaling an interesting evolution. They started with hardcore punk and once Joy Division influences became very noticeable, you knew this was a unique band. Although interesting, it lacked a bit of the experienced songwriting that would be shown on this album. Now, two years have passed since that record, and a new record is coming. That album is called
Souls at Zero, and it was something so unique, creative, and different for the time that it absolutely has to be noticed.
This time, Neurosis certainly emphasize the progressive rock influence with more sections in the songs, very strong musicianship, shifting tempos and time signatures, and a wide range of instrumentation. They’ve added keyboards, flutes, strings, and even horns on a few tracks. There is still Joy Division influence, with the bleak atmosphere of songs such as Flight, Sterile Vision, and Stripped. The influences spread throughout this record can be rather hard to trace though since the sound is so unique. Lyrically, the album is influenced by people such as
Cormac McCarthy and
Jack London with the bleak and creepy, yet poetic lyricism. Overall though, they sound more influenced by the Word as Law than anything else though.
The album starts off very strong with To Crawl Under One’s Skin, which is a long, progressive, heavy song with a chilling atmosphere that would suit a battle in the snow during midnight. The album’s atmosphere generally stays in this realm, but it never has the repetitive nature of
The Word as Law. Another interesting texture they’ve added to these songs is the amount of samples from films and things of that nature which create a much darker and creepier atmosphere. Even with these samples, they never manage to sound campy or anything along those lines because they're put in the perfect places. Sterile Vision is probably the most definitive song on this record since it follows everything I’ve mentioned so far. It starts with bleak acoustic guitar playing, it shifts into a heavy and dark section with plenty of changes along the way, and it ends with a sample of thunder and singing.
Neurosis took their sound off of their previous record and expanded on everything from that record that was good, as I said before. As a first in my discography review, I can say I see no obvious flaws with this release. In fact, the only one I can think of is that the flow of the tracks isn’t quite as good as it was on later releases. What I mean is that the songs don’t quite feel like an album since they generally don’t fade into each other. They do follow a theme throughout the entire album though which kind of helps them flow I guess. There are no duds on this record, although some tracks are better than others. The standout tracks for me include Sterile Vision, Souls at Zero, To Crawl Under One’s Skin, A Chronology for Survival, and Stripped. Even though some tracks are better than others, all of them at least meet the Neurosis standard.
In conclusion, this is probably the most accessible true Neurosis record. Their first two records were hinting at this beast, and who would’ve thought they got the sound they were searching for this amazing this quickly? Since the album’s tracks don’t quite fade into each other, new fans of the band can listen to it track by track and not be bored or feel like something’s missing. This was my starting point for the band and I haven’t looked back ever since. Simply put, this is an amazing album that deserves at least a listen. It may not be considered one of their masterpieces, but it’s still an amazing album, especially for its time.
