Neurosis
A Sun That Never Sets

2001... Year of grace, odyssey in the space of Wave music.

The year of "Lateralus," the year of "A Sun That Never Sets".
There was talk of brotherhood between the two titles, of baroque work for the Tool masterpiece, of minimal art for that, red, of Neurosis. But the Neurotic Wave is irretrievably projected inward, not seeking Tantric moments of Toolian ecstasy, but spirals of isolation turned into music. It is a sound, that of our well-tested friends from Chicago (which one, the Martian one?), that we have been accustomed (perhaps too well) to for some time; it is a Sludge that starts from the first track, a prelude of sound distortions, and brings death (Herod), immerses us in the album's plot on the waves of the tide (the Tide), scrapes the bottom of the barrel, corrosive, in tracks like "From the Hill", tribal as in the obsessive (never too much...) mantra "From Where Its Roots Run", damnably Post-Core in the purple ride of "Falling Unknown", a chilling piece with intertwining voices in free fall for its over 13 minutes.

Strangely more assimilable than previous "Times of Grace" or "Enemy Of the Sun", icy but with a vein of positivity that comes out towards the end, accompanied by the bells of "Resound" and with the final (but if you listen to the track not quite conclusive) "Stones From The Sky", with echoes of the Doors, malevolently interrupted for an artificial defect, closing an otherwise infinite Loop. Less monotonous than Venom by Breach, darker than the recent Isis, absolutely distant from the nervousness and anger of "Converge" or "Dillinger Escape Plan", in my opinion the most beautiful Neurosis album along with the very old "Soul At Zero", leaves us immersed in a dense sea, in a deserted plain at sunset, waiting for (alien) saviors who will never come; a wonderfully evoked atmosphere from the guitar work, sometimes arpeggiated, much more often scratchy, always excellently supported by a tearing and declining rhythmic section, which hypnotizes (sometimes it seems the music could end at any moment!), and by the exceptional vocal fullness of Von Till, in great shape, dragging us between moments of anger and lament, or even of true melody, listen to the Title Track to believe. The wise use of bells, flutes, and peculiar instruments, and the right dose of electronics, by the omnipresent Noah Landis, does the rest, conferring a body to the album's sanguine concept, along with the super evocative Artwork, created by a young artist (Seldon Hunt) of whom we will hear more.

An album for those who obviously appreciate not too "Metal" sounds, but written and produced by people (Albini marked all the recent Neurosis works) who cannot release trash or even half missteps. For them (for me) a 5/5 that feels tight in a paltry fraction, for others a bit less, you need to digest it if you usually only eat bread and Nevermore. Open your heart and ears to these artists, if you don't know them yet, and immerse yourself in the crimson waters of dissolving with them...