Given to the Rising

GIVEN TO THE RISING is definitely one of the best Neurosis albums, and my personal favorite. After swerving from the path of all-out intensity to the inward-looking, ambient sounds of A SUN THAT NEVER SETS (2001) and THE EYE OF EVERY STORM (2004), the band returns to the "hypnotic, super-heavy loud music" they are known for. The simplest way to describe the sound of GTTR is to say that it takes TIMES OF GRACE (1999) and adds a touch of the ambient atmospherics of TEOES.Neurosis began as a hardcore punk band in Oakland in 1985. They shared the speed, intensity, and anarchist politics of that movement -- against war, racism, Reagan and Thatcher. SOULS AT ZERO (1992) was the turning point when they slowed the music down and began to develop their innovative, massive, metal sound. (They're usually mentioned as a key influence on "post-metal," but their trajectory was actually from punk to metal, so post-punk.) Building this new sound further on ENEMY OF THE SUN (1993), most fans seem to agree that they produced their Nineties masterpiece with THROUGH SILVER IN BLOOD (1996), which is a maximum sonic assault with sound samples (very Eighties), psychedelic flourishes, and quieter passages mixed with the titanic guitar chords and tribal drumming.The band's more recent music seems to have a smaller audience. (Why so few reviews of this great album?) On TOG they stripped down the sound with the help of producer Steve Albini, creating a more austere sound that to my ears sounds more powerful. This is what they continue on GTTR (he has produced all their albums since 1999), but to my ears it's even better.The lyrics of Neurosis are poetic and oblique, and evade any simplistic, literal interpretation. So here is my interpretation of what the band is about, based on lyrics, interviews, history, and my own listening and experience. All metal is about death and pain. This is part of its appeal, in addition to the sheer energy and intensity. But whereas metal by definition deals with the fact of death, which we must all confront, it seems to me that Neurosis has extnded their early Eighties punk politics to a more sweeping indictment of industrial capitalist "civilization." The lyrics hint at a neopagan vision of life in intimate connection with the Earth, with the seasons, with all Life. This is not adolescent rebellion, and it is not nihilism. Neurosis confronts the death of our way of life, both now, in its alienation, its separation, from the Earth, but impending ecological collapse as the ecosystem is methodically destroyed. Was the Nineties a time to celebrate the victory of capitalism? No, it means alienation and ecological devastation have been in hyperdrive.Hendrix said "I Don't Live Today," -- "existing -- nothing but existing." This alienation fuels much punk and metal. But I believe as the members of Neurosis have grown older they still feel that, feel it more deeply, rather than moving on from it and seeing it only as an adolescent phase -- they refuse to "become comfortably numb." Steve Von Till, the source of the quote in my review title as well as the "hypnotic, super-heavy, loud music" quote, has said the band attempts to go "somewhere deeper, somewhere more emotional, somewhere elemental.""When you learn to surrender to something bigger than yourself, you're acknowledging the realm of spirit -- and where else does music come from? I have no idea, but it feels like it's not just deep in the core of us, but deep within the core of the Earth, the stars, and everything else."I see this music as an expression of a deep connection with the ground of being, with life, with the elemental. There is a dark side to this, yes. What Jung called "the shadow" is respected and recognized. Darkness is part of the cycle of light and darkness and to fail to absorb this is to fail to be fully alive. Moving through darkness, moving through pain, moving through ritual, and emerging stronger is an ancient core human experience.There is something Wagnerian in Neurosis, something tragic and grandiose, but their music does not involve stories about characters. There are no masks. The bellowing vocals are the first person "I," the I of every one of us. What the music expresses in all its raging intensity is something inside us that is wounded, something that connects us to all Life.Neurosis is a great band, and this is one of the band's best records, with phenomenal artwork by Josh Graham. They don't exactly have a high profile -- I am very happy to have finally discovered them!

Take a trip to a darker, more honest world

I love that Neurosis does not stray from their roots. It's hard to compare to their other albums but if you are a doom metal fan, you should have this album.

Talk about an influential band! Can you name one modern-day post/doom/progressive metal band that is not influenced by Neurosis? There are probably a few out there on the market today, but this reviewer is sure struggling to think of who those might be. (Mastodon, Gojira, and Isis are but three examples of bands that are hugely influential themselves, but got their start only from listening to a few classic Neurosis records.) But even the most monstrous and untouchable of progressive metal titans are not without some flaws. In the case of this band, those imperfections came with 2001's "A Sun That Never Sets" and 2003's "The Eye Of Every Storm," two releases that met with decisively mixed responses from fans.But following up these two "good but not great" albums proved to be a surprisingly easy task for Neurosis, as all they had to do was return to form. And that is precisely what these California natives did for their ninth full-length. 2007's "Given To The Rising" embodies all that is wonderful about them, as it is heard ranging from post-hardcore to crust-punk to sludge/doom metal to industrial rock to unmistakably unique progressive metal. It is a superbly written and flawlessly-performed affair that utilizes such elements as guitar feedback, industrial music-lite keyboards, tribal-tinged drumming, and even a few church organs to maximum effect, thus producing a truckload of chilling ambiance and an irresistible soft/hard contrast.The album begins on a rather surprising note, with the introductory title song beginning rather heavily and forcefully, with a strong, moaning, Sabbath-y riff and aggressive, angry growled vocals. The nine-minute long epic does occasionally break off into tuneful territory, with ambient acoustic strumming, though. This is then followed up by the distinctly Tool-esque "Fear And Sickness," and the multi-faceted "To The Wind," which opens with a beautiful melodic guitar intro accented by distantly crashing cymbals and a fairly melodic, beeping bass line. The piece does eventually ascend to heavy and doomy territory, though, as a droning, bottom-heavy guitar lick and effects-laden vocals come into play later on. And track four, "At The End Of The Road," follows a similar-sounding blueprint, playing like an darkly dramatic, eight-and-a-half-minute long epic. It begins with a terrifically moody, lengthy, and proggy introductory soundscape (that is sure to get the hairs on the back of your neck to stand straight up, by the way), before morphing into an ominously droning sludge metal riff. Things get more mellow, right away after that, though, as we are then treated to a trippy, mood-enhancing instrumental interlude by the name of "Shadow."The second half of the album kicks off with another prototypical Neurosis epic in "Hidden Faces," an epic that offsets occasional melodic breaks with a brutal and very dangerous doom metal riff slice. It is almost (if not quite) overshadowed, however, by "Water Is Not Enough," which opens on a straightforwardly heavy note, with hefty, chugging guitar leads. These guitar chops are occasionally offset by melodic flourishes (i.e. occasional synth flourishes and dramatic, creepy, spoken word vocals), sure. But for the most part, "Water Is Not Enough" begins on an aggressive note and only gets heavier from then on out. And when a huge, momentously meaty and pounding power chord kicks in, you know the song has reached its climax. And this outro flows seamlessly into "Distill (Watching The Swarm)," which opens on a trance-inducing note (with a dangerously repetitive, looping guitar line accented a crashing drum beat.) The number then proceeds to transition through a lovely acoustic/melodic string section and a new-wavy, industrial music-lite keyboard section before finally and once again dropping the almighty doom metal hammer. (The end result sounds not unlike some Killing Joke stuff.)Up next is the very aptly-entitled "Nine," which is more-or-less the sister song to the aforementioned album centerpiece ("Shadow") in that it is a 2.5 minute long instrumental interlude spiced up by trippy keyboards and creepy spoken word vocals. And finally, the album closes on an especially epic note, with the roughly twelve-minute long "Origin" being a tune that is layered in bouncy, dexterous, tom-tom-heavy drum fills (which resonate away at the bottom of the mix), futuristic-sounding keyboard lines, and gorgeous acoustic guitar flourishes. The cut even goes so far as to explore some acoustic guitar leads and/or soloing -- but this is all before a monstrous, serrated, and very dissonant electric guitar comes smashing into the mix at around nine minutes in.Extremely meticulous, darkly dramatic, truly timeless, superbly-crafted, and heavy in both the traditional and non-traditional ways, "Given To The Rising" is an eminently memorable, accomplished, and certainly very enjoyable affair that was seen topping many-a-prestigious "album of the year" list in 2007 -- and rightfully so, too. It boasts a sound that manages to be both immediately recognizable, yet simultaneously innovative and original. Its real magic, though, lies in the fact that it might take a few listens to completely absorb, but once it does start to sink in, the results are ambrosial. And hey, I dare you to find me one Neurosis fan that would have it any other way.