THE EYE OF EVERY STORM

The first "wordy" review!

I enjoyed NEUROSIS only with this album. I tried some early efforts, but they were to extreme for me. This one is more mellow, while still dark, depressing and heavy. Imagine TOOL inspired by Doom-Metal instead of Alternative Rock. NEUROSIS style is also described as Post-Hardcore; dunno, what should it mean ;), but there is a noticeable share of Post-Rock in their music too. So this should be recommended to Post-Metal/Modern-Prog devotees; if you like PELICAN, ISIS and RED SPAROWES, you should get NEUROSIS without hesitation. Also fans of any kind of dark and depressing music should definitely check this one out. Recommended, but beware - this album may be too gloomy for an ordinary Prog listener ;)

The Eye Of Every Storm is the 9th full-length studio album by American Experimental/ Post metal act Neurosis. The last album by the band Neurosis & Jarboe (2003) was a bit unusual as it was a collaboration between Neurosis and former Swans vocalist Jarboe. That album stands as a bit of an oddity in an otherwise steady development of Neurosis style from album to album. The album before the Jarboe affair A Sun That Never Sets (2001) had seen Neurosis moving closer to post rock without losing their trademark heavy/ sludgy post metal sound. The Eye Of Every Storm should be seen as a continued development from the sound on A Sun That Never Sets. A slow but impressive development in sound that started with the groundbreaking Souls At Zero (1992) album.

The music on The Eye Of Every Storm is the most subtle the band has produced up until then. This by any means does not mean that this isn´t one heavy album, because it certainly is. The raw hardcore vocals have been toned down considerabley though. A development that already started on A Sun That Never Sets. Scott Kelly is an intense vocalist, who can both sing raw and more emotional types of vocals. I should probably add dark, melancholic and angry emotions to that remark. As always when were talking Neurosis those are the emotions that the band excel in. Scott Kelly´s vocal style evoke those feelings. Sometimes I´m reminded of Nick Cave. The songs on the album are mostly pretty long. Most of them between 7 and 11 minutes and Neurosis is the kind of band who knows how to entertain you all the way through those long songs. It´s not that there are multible riffs or fast impressive playing in the songs. Rather they are pretty slow building and atmospheric. I´m actually not going to mention specific songs from the album as I find the album and the songs on the album very consistent in quality.

The production is professional and powerful.

The Eye Of Every Storm is a natural development for Neurosis. It didn´t surprise me at all, and I guess I´m slighly disappointed because of that. I must say that I miss the aggressive nature of their mid-late nineties albums a bit but the band has chosen another path and I´m gonna have to accept that fact. The Eye Of Every Storm is recommended for those who enjoy hybrids between post rock and post metal. A 3.5 - 4 star rating is warranted. This one might not be my favorite but you can´t deny quality.

'The Eye Of Every Storm' - Neurosis (5/10)

Widely held to be one of the cornerstones in the post-metal world, the reputation and legendary status of Neurosis is not in question here. Along with Isis, the band innovated a genre which has now legions of adherents behind it. As with many great bands though, the sound most often changes, or develops from album to album. Ideally, this sound either reivents the band's existing sound into something even more exciting, or changes things up completely, for better or worse. In Neurosis' case with 'The Eye Of Every Storm', the sound has certainly become more mature from their earlier work. However, while the essence of the band is here, Neurosis seems to lack the same intensity and excitement that initially drew me into the band.

Topping seventy minutes in length, one can expect Neurosis to be in this for the long haul; 'The Eye Of Every Storm' is a record that certainly tests the patience of the listener. The ideas are drawn out, and often there will be large breaks from the more metal leaning moments. In fact, the greater part of 'The Eye Of Every Storm' relies moreso on a sombre mellow sound that keeps the same introspective and brooding vibe, but conveys it in a very different light. More often than not, the sludgy guitar textures are exchanged for electronic atmospherics, or minimalistic instrumentation. For these long winded passages, the focus is almost entirely on the gravelly voice of Scott Kelly, of whom this almost feels like a solo album. Much of what 'The Eye Of Every Storm' has to offer revolves around Kelly's distinctive vocals, at times belting but- in the case of this album particularly- resorting to a very sombre croon. Granted that the man's voice is not for anyone, but the really deadpan and rough delivery throughout the most mellow parts does wear thin regardless.

Where Neurosis still strikes gold is with the heavier metal sections, but most of all, the lyrics. Based on what has already been said about Kelly's voice being the centrepiece of the album, the lyrics become that much more important. Although the music often borders on stagnation, there is the sense that this is the work of a weathered poet; rough emotion etches through almost every verse, and it makes 'The Eye Of Every Storm' a surprisingly contemplative effort from these experienced post-metallers. The 'metal' moments here are fairly few and far between, but given the mellowness of the rest of the music here, the dynamics do get more powerful than they would be otherwise, and Neurosis still has a penchant for tasty guitar textures intact.

A disappointing album in some respects, but a reaffirming one in others. All the same, Neurosis has no lack of ambition here, and although the music may not be as enjoyable to me as I was hoping it to, I can still hear the artistic passion in the work of this band.

7/10

"The Eye Of Every Storm" is a dissonantly melodic, meditative, and thought-provoking experience.

Recognized as one of the the greatest metal bands of the past twenty years, Neurosis didn't have to prove much, but they once again proved that they're the kings of Sludge Metal, with 2004's "The Eye Of Every Storm", eight years after "Through Silver In Blood". This 2004 release is in my book the second part of the trilogy that concludes Neurosis's career, the first part being "A Sun That Never Sets" and the last one "Given To The Rising". There is a small release in the middle of the trilogy, but I tend to forget about it.

In 2001 the band had significantly changed direction in their sound, going for a more experimental approach, using more interesting sounds and samples and turning down the volume. "The Eye Of Every Storm" continues towards that path, using less strange sounds and focusing much more on the guitar textures, very frequently clean. Of course in both these albums Neurosis manage to get pretty darn heavy, but not as much as they did in the earlier days. Also, I couldn't help noticing that on this more recent release they are less build-ups, and more atmosphere. Clean, undistorted atmosphere, it almost sounds like Post- rock most of the time. The vocals are less aggressive, but still have a rough delivery, sounding frankly like a sort of animal that is whispering in pain. I'm not crazy about this kind of singing, I rather hear Scott Kelly burst in rage like he did previously. The songwriting is good, and the structure of these songs seems a little sparse but very stretched out, almost like if the ideas were all floating around in a pretty long fragment of time, as if they were echoing endlessly in space, dissonantly.

Dark tones are pretty much dominant, thanks also to the samples, which are much less used but when they are they play a great role. There's a good handful of repetition, which seems to overcome the climaxes, and in this way it still manages, once again, to be an Atmospheric Sludge Metal release for Neurosis. However this way the tracks always are at the same tone, without increasing it or decreasing it, which makes the listen a little flat at times. The distortion is very present and is inevitable to miss, as it has a more ambient use to it, so again we have another factor that makes "The Eye Of Every Storm" particularly influenced by Post-Rock.

But these songs are never boring. They always manage to be very fascinating sounding, even though after a while the album gets a little too long for this kind of music. Even some of the songs are a little too stretched out; the title track to me is decent but nothing more, and it goes on for what seems like forever. The other epic song "Bridges" is much more interesting and fascinating, with great sampling and electronics. There are songs, though, that build, "No River To Take Me Home" and even more in "Bridges In The Sky", both very good tracks. The songs in the core of the album are good as well, they have certainly their moments. But the closer "I Can See You" is a dreadful song, the song that has the most emotion, that is probably the most mysterious as well.

This album may not be a good introduction to the band, but it is a great release for Sludge Metal, a definite must if you like this genre, and also an essential addiction to any Neurosis fan.

With this album Neurosis takes a more standard post metal sound, though you can't knock the band for that, since they invented the sound.

I actually prefer newer Neurosis over old, simply put: atmosphere over aggression (as one person once told me). Of course atmosphere has been a Neurosis staple since '92, they've been belting out lengthy, atmospheric metal long before Isis or even Tool, but on "The Eye of Every Storm" they adopt a more heavy/light interplay style, and is greatly subdued. Their bludgeoning, sludgy guitar dirges are still around, but just much less. Neurosis has no problem utilizing melodic passages, and even minimalism.

Opening track "Burn" and "The Eye of Every Storm" have lengthy movements that are almost solely vocals, the latter being backed up a continuous "wub", psychedelic noises and splashes of guitar.

These two being standout tracks. "Burn" is, again, pretty standard post metal, though so well done. Heavy/light transitions, building to a powerful climax. His gruff, sludge metal vocals are so fitting...he does it in a more "singing" style and over soft, beautiful music it creates such an emotional, tortured feeling. Awesome song.

"The Eye of Every Storm" moves like a storm, gradually rolling in until it reaches a real moving part, before entering a long quiet section. A baritone talking takes the forefront, as mentioned earlier, backed up by various trippy noises. Really let it sink in, what he's saying, the ambiance, everything.

Another brilliant song is "Bridges". A steady, (though very distant) punk drum beat carries on while sparse piano, vocals, and fluttering psychedelic noises take the forefront. Picks up a bit before a schizo journey of drones and borderline silence takes over. Both parts are awesome, though it takes some patience to grasp all the subtlety in the quiet (on casual listen it'll sound like honest silence) before a rockin ending. Atmospheric, post metal to the nth degree.

That's really how to best describe whole album. A lot of quiet, spaced with heavy, (in their classic slow, even droning, nature) tons of little detail. Pretty heavy use of synth, though it's never prominent, just filler...another piece you may not hear at first but adds another dimension.

The vocals are still Neurosis' strained, sludge metal style though even here more subdued. He still lets it soar, but all the time and while I was never a huge fan, I like it much more here. The restraint does well, and of course makes it more powerful when he takes off.

No doubt, like most of the bands work this is a difficult album. Even I struggle a bit with some Neurosis. "The Eye of Every Storm" requires some patience and a fine ear. It's not the best for casual listening, as the long quiet parts would have to be boring, this is best for active listening. To really feel this albums power and absorb all the subtle songwriting it's best to sit down, do nothing, and let the album take you over. I like to put it on early morning after I wake up, sitting there relaxed playing this album, or doing so whenever I have some nice down time.

While it's extremely well done, the album is a tad formulaic and it's difficulty may be a turn off, (though I found it easier to get into then old school, crushing Neurosis). The gods of post metal have done it again, putting out a unique and superb post metal album.

Four Stars

Aside from a collaboration with Jarboe, this is the first Neurosis album to have come out since A Sun That Never Sets, and the sludge metal had changed substantially since then with acts like Isis issuing incredible albums like Oceanic to challenge Neurosis for the subgenre's crown (and Cult of Luna were fast becoming strong challengers too). Here, Neurosis double down on the bleak direction set by the preceding work, though if Steve Von Till was responsible for "filters and textures" I can't help but wonder whether a different hand on the tiller might have been called for, since much of the album's textures feel kind of off to me to an extent I find distracting. (In particular, the vocals sound thin and weak to me.)