SOULS AT ZERO

Neurosis third album is a recent discovery for me. I had always skipped it because of my disappointment with the first couple of anonymous thrash-hardcore albums that preceded it. Big was my surprise to find how much Neurosis had come into their own on this release. Even though it is much faster-paced and livelier then later albums, Souls At Zero bears the clear Neurosis trademark all over it: insane heaviness, bursts of aggression, sonic and formal experimentations, and tons of attitude!

There's actually little 'classic' metal in this music. An occasional gritty thrash metal or heavy doom riff aside, the style couldn't be better described than post-metal indeed. This music takes metal into new and exciting territories, adding un-metal instruments like violins and samples and fusing diverse styles such as hard-core, thrash, post-punk, industrial music and post-rock. Neurosis were sure one of the most exciting bands in those highly creative early 90's years and this album bears ample proof of it.

Are they entirely original then? No, of course not, nothing is. Neurosis builds heavenly on the legacy of 80's proto-industrial post-punk acts such as Foetus, Swans and to a lesser extent Prong. If you are a Neurosis fan but didn't hear those bands yet you have some serious catching-up to do. Swans especially, because it is the band that had made similar music 10 years earlier. Unfortunately, only a small section of the public was ready for it. A song like Flight for example is pure early Swans that got a metal reworking. Neurosis had the chance of better timing, when they unleashed their eclectic extreme metal with brains upon us, the world was ready for it and they would give rise to a whole new generation of bands.

Neurosis has melted countless of influences in their furnace. Throughout the album, they takes us on a stunning trip through the dark side of musical history, from Black Sabbath via heavy Crimson to hard-core, thrash and the harsher side of the 80's post-punk scene. Also the influence of the sleazy grunge of the Melvins can not be underestimated. The opening of Stripped even shows their affinity with jazz-rock and Crimsonite guitar scales. The continuation of the track reveals the thundering tribal impetus of early Killing Joke and the industrial sonics of Foetus. The result is a very diverse album that could please everybody who likes intense music, provided you can deal with the hoarse and gruff hard-core styles. While I'm usually not a fan of it, I can assure you that their two vocalists pull off this style most convincingly.

This album hasn't aged one bit and still sounds frighteningly relevant. After a good 10 spins it has quickly become one of my favourite Neurosis albums and I'm quite sure it will further grow on me. To ensure that process, it's being transferred to my summer-cycling ipod as we speak. Dark music like this is the ideal sunblock! 4.5 stars, at least.