Through Silver In Blood

Neurosis

Relapse Records, 1996

http://www.neurosis.com

REVIEW BY: Paul Hanson

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 07/10/1998

When you embark into the dark world of Neurosis, bring your patience and perseverance. This is a difficult CD to sit through because the nine tracks on this CD contain 70 minutes of gut-wrenching heavy metal that nearly causes nausea. The tracks rarely dip below six minutes in length so when Neurosis begins a new song, hold on for the ride. In essence, this CD is not for those who like their music light.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

Neurosis is at its best during the primal pounding and growling in a track like "Through Silver In Blood." It introduces the listener to the band through mesmerizing drum rhythms. The rhythms intensify, adding searing electric guitars and bass. It is nearly three minutes into the track before lead vocalist Scott Von Till begins growling, "Through silver in blood/ We stand not judged by/ Eyes of flesh when/ transit times cross/ prey vision consumed." All the while the drums build, the guitars rip apart your eardrums and you nod your head. Unlike other metal acts, Neurosis doesn't rely on catchy guitar riffs. The glue of their music seems to be the relentless tribal drumming. Twelve minutes later, you arrive at track two. Seemingly aware of how intricate their music is, Neurosis calm things down with some samples and odd sounds. This lasts less than two minutes, which is just long enough to prepare for the next onslaught.

That onslaught of intensity comes as the third track "Eye." Back to the growling, the tribal drumming and ripping music. This track, which clocks in at a little over five minutes, includes more intense guitars than track one. It ends with eerie high pitched notes.

By the time you get to the twelve-minute fourth track, "Purify," it's obvious why Pantera liked Neurosis enough to have them open some shows for them back in 1996. Both bands play music is darkly heavy, even when the tempo slows.

The final five tracks do not change my impression of Neurosis. This CD is excellent for fits of depression or when you have a lot of time to actually ingest what the band is trying to do musically and lyrically. The adjective "intense" best describes Neurosis.

The experience of listening to this Neurosis disc ends with the following lyrics: " . . . Bleed my eye/ Heal my stone/ I will open a door/ and bleed in your dreams/ silently praying for/ enclosure within the flame of origin."

Nothing more to say after that!

Rating: B

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© 1998 Paul Hanson and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Relapse Records, and is used for informational purposes only.