“I walk into the water, to wash the blood from my feet”
There is nothing on the face of this planet quite like Neurosis in full flow. Most bands produce merely sound. Neurosis produce something so powerful that it threatens to destabilise the very earth that surrounds us. Neurosis do not just produce music, they produce noise that is altering not just to the mind but also to the body and soul. They cleanse, destroy and rebuild. They break, overcome and shatter. This is music used as a tool in a way that very few have ever been able to master.
“Rage will blossom into iron”
Behind the overwhelming sea of noise that Neurosis unleash at their heaviest is a primal fury, an understanding of all that is wrong in this world. Powerful beyond words, this ferocious attack on the traditional boundaries of extremity is capable not just of being truly terrifying but also poignantly moving. Extreme music is not just about the atmosphere and the sound, it is also about the feelings it arouses. Neurosis have a direct line to your deepest fears, hopes and loves, and there is nothing you can do to stop them tapping into it.
“We follow the earth, the earth follows the stars”
Perhaps more so than any Neurosis record to date, 'Honor Found in Decay' is like a trip through the stratosphere. It sounds almost devoid of any place or time on earth, instead choosing to exist on some far away plain to which we will never ourselves gain access. This band may be made up of mere mortals, but these mortals seem capable of transmitting from the ether in a way the rest of us can only dream of.
“The god of reason deserts me”
Predictably, when Neurosis are heavy on this album they remain pretty much the heaviest band the world has ever come to know. Capable of unleashing sonic maelstroms that their many imitators can only fantasise at being able to truly reproduce, Neurosis are, in many ways, the most aggressive sounding band on the face of the planet. Perhaps Swans have a slight edge in the altering of mental states, but Neurosis are heavy in a way that most ‘metal’ bands probably could not even understand, let alone match. If a song as repulsively demanding as “Bleeding the Pigs” has been unleashed by any other artist this year then the end of the world we know must be nigh.
“We’ll sleep with no dreams tonight”
As 'Honor Found in Decay' draws to a conclusion, one could be forgiven for suddenly finding oneself at a loss. Is there anything that serves as a suitable follow-on from something so draining? Once again, as 'Raise the Dawn' clatters towards its conclusion, we are reminded that what Neurosis produce is more than just music, or even art. The weapons that Neurosis yield all stem from their potent ability to utilise the same tools as others in a way that defies the conventions that those tools demand. Perhaps this is largely down to the fact that the band has moved beyond their original sphere of aspirations and influences. Frontmen Scott Kelly and Steve von Till both write folk records in their spare time, and this extra-curricular activity seems only to have cemented Neurosis’ unique footing with the ground upon which we walk. The quieter sections of this record are just as disturbing, and just as well crafted, with both men’s vocals having an earthy quality that conjures images of the two rising directly from the soil to the stage. Rumours that Neurosis have also learned the ability to control weather patterns were unconfirmed at the time of going to press, but 'All is Found...in Time' has a disconcerting habit of hitting like a major hurricane.
“The water flows slow and black”
Befitting their position as perhaps the last true titans of extreme metal, 'Honor Found in Decay' is a crushing reminder that Neurosis have gone to the furthest points in the metal universe and not only survived but grown in strength. This may not be their best record, so to speak, but it perhaps proves the band’s point more effectively than any of its predecessors. As a mission statement of the extraordinary talents Neurosis have to offer, this is unbeatable. As a demonstration of all that extreme music (in all its stylistic forms) can do, it stands alongside Swans’ 'The Seer' at the very pinnacle of provocative, exploratory sound in 2012. For the hour long duration of this record, Neurosis make almost every other band on the face of the planet sound completely irrelevant and unnecessary. Maybe, after listening to this, you will come to believe that they actually are...
“All the rest have fallen now”
'Honor Found in Decay' is out on 29th October via Neurot Recordings. Neurosis play the HMV Forum in London on 2nd December with Godflesh.
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There is nothing on the face of this planet quite like Neurosis in full flow. Most bands produce merely sound. Neurosis produce something so powerful that it threatens to destabilise the very earth that surrounds us. Neurosis do not just produce music, they produce noise that is altering not just to the mind but also to the body and soul. They cleanse, destroy and rebuild. They break, overcome and shatter. This is music used as a tool in a way that very few have ever been able to master.
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