NEUROSIS are not the most talented band in the world. They're not exactly the type of songwriters one would call 'tunesmiths' - hooks are not their thing. Neither Scott Kelly nor Steve Van Till has a very broad vocal range; most performances range from low-end whisperspeak to hellish screaming. There isn't a lot of flashy, notice-me musicianship or soloing that jumps out, with the exception of Jason Roeder's tribal drumming from time to time.

What NEUROSIS does so well is create epic metal albums that are abrasive, gripping, and sonically challenging. Their bruising loud/quiet epics have become legendary over the last 20 years (as well as their fantastic live shows), and to their credit they've retained their furious, jagged, inaccessible edge the entire time.

Those that enjoyed 2004's critically lauded "The Eye of Every Storm" will find plenty of raging magnificence on this disc. The 9 minute title track for example deftly cycles through sweet, violin-like synth interludes and hard-charging mid-tempo metal, Albini's touch with the transitions sounding as sharp as ever. "To The Wind" features an atmospheric keyboard intro highly reminiscent of the previous disc. There are a couple of short interludes that recall the swelling arrangements of the last album, namely the shrieking space noises of "Nine" and the eerie pulses of "Shadow".

But that's where the similarities end. On the whole, this disc is much, much heavier than the last one. While "The Eye of Every Storm" danced and flirted with those crushing, headbanging sounds of the band firing on all cylinders, this one delivers lots and lots of crunching, thundering tribal-thumping metal. Gone are the short, heavy passages that disappear into piano interludes. "Fear and Sickness" is one of the heaviest things the band has recorded in years, moving from a wounded, lurching riff to an apocalyptic wall of noise that grows to an enormous crescendo over the space of 7 minutes. Sure, the disc contains lots of loud and quiet passages, but the heavy elephant-stomp stuff sounds like it was recorded in a wind tunnel like the older records. Tracks like "Hidden Faces" and "Distill (Watching the Swarm)" will present fans of the older NEUROSIS material with plenty of headbanging delight. The closer, "Origin" is the jewel in the crown, featuring extraordinary lyrics that rival early PRIEST, and staggering high drama that builds over 11 minutes from hypnotic echoes to smash-everything fury and back again.

The digipack is laid out with dark, provocative artwork and full lyrics on an impressive insert. It's enough to make even the most adamant vinyl collector somewhat satisfied with a digital disc. To the torrent raiders - if you downloaded this, you didn't get shit.

- Marchman

OFFICIAL SITE: www.neurosis.com

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