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[rune]

a r t i s t : Neurosis
t i t l e : Given to the Rising
d a t e : 2007
l a b e l : Neurot
c a t : NR050
g e n r e : Metal
r l s. d a t e : Mar/2007
t r a c k s : 10

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Neurosis
Given To The Rising ltd. CD/CD/DLP
Neurot Recordings

Neurosis needs no introduction. The Bay Area's legendary
masters of behemoth, psychedelic operatic guitar girth has
influenced a wide array of artists and nearly singlehandedly
defined vast extremes of heavy music popular today. However,
now in its third decade, Neurosis' latest album finds the
group's sound transforming yet again so dramatically that even
to diehard fans, Given To The Rising might seem starkly
different, a stunning reintroduction.

Given To The Rising is like being submerged in an isolation
tank -- it's enveloping, subverting the senses with surreal
visions we'd swear were our own, cleverly jarring and
disorienting consciousness beyond any footing in reality. As
any diehard Neurosis fan will tell you, there's a moment with
every new record and live show at which the band will stop as
if the world has frozen in position, then suddenly kick into
the primordial wail that we've all come to recognize as the
"Neurosis note" that forces the listener's head and shoulders
to lurch and sway almost uncontrollably. Given To The Rising
is Neurosis at its most captivating and hypnotic.

Put simply, the album is some of the band's most raw and
immediate material to date, but it is also more complexly
orchestrated and richly thickened with psych-damaged
overtones. Given To The Rising is more than a just a powerful
collection of songs -- it's more like a religious experience.
While personal epiphanies are repeatedly told by those who've
been converted by Neurosis' sensory overloading live show as
well as its recordings, there's a hypnotic quality to this
album that takes hold from the opening guitar squall of the
title track.

Once again recording with revered engineer and longtime friend
Steve Albini (as the band has for five previous albums,The Eye
of Every Storm in 2004, A Sun That Never Sets in 2001,
Sovereign in 2000 and Times of Grace in 1999), Given To The
Rising bears the band's signature crushing heft and cathartic
force. However, it also finds Neurosis delving into
increasingly psychedelic effects and twisted, inventive song
structures. Much of the dramatic lull of recent works is
forgone in favor of full-on attack. While it's reflective of
the band's signature aggressive pummeling, Given To The Rising
is not just an exercise in Wagnerian thunder. Neurosis instead
takes an exploration into psychoactive prog-rock and
eviscerating symphonic thud that moves well beyond anything
that might fit snugly within a particular genre. It's as
though the band has taken cues from such psych-noise
predecessors as Hawkwind, Faust, Skullflower and Chrome,
merged those elements with the sickening frequency assault of
Throbbing Gristle and then submerged them within Neurosis'
saturated sonic strata.

"We stand encircled by wing and fire" growls
vocalist/guitarist Scott Kelly, opening the album and its
title track, the band's heels already dug deep in the dirt,
blasting forth in all directions at once. It's as though we
join the battle already in progress, and by all means we have
-- Neurosis has fought hard to maintain its sovereignty not
just in the music business, but as a boundlessly creative
entity consisting of Kelly, guitarist/vocalist Steve Von Till,
bassist/vocalist Dave Edwardson, drummer Jason Roeder and
keyboardist Noah Landis. The band brought keyboards to heavy
punk. It brought experimental noise to metal. It merged
antique droning folk with Black Flag's desperation. All the
while, forging onward toward new means to explore the infinite
realms of catharsis and self-transformation, while myriad
bands simply follow in its wake.

The guitars grunt and groan like sinister beasts on "Fear and
Sickness", propelled by Roeder's clever rhythmic shifts
delivered by thunderous, rollicking tom beats that lunge into
half-time thumping kick drum and snare blasts. "To The Wind"
opens with a deceptively delicate, albeit forlorn melody
unlike anything we've come to expect of the band, which is
abruptly choked off at the 2-minute mark by one of the most
brutally sudden shifts of mood and tempo. A slight, barely
audible growl hints at the change to come, but when a wall of
chiming bent-notes and drop-tuned sludge guitars, paired with
a stomping beat erupt over the melody, it's truly monolithic
in impact. Edwardson slings heavy low-end distortion over the
top with howling bent notes adding powerful harmonic
overtones. But, perhaps the highlight of the song comes during
a brief respite, when Kelly lets out an astounding
29-second-long throat-curdling scream at the song's climax.
Von Till's rasping whisper sounds downright haunting over the
rhythmic churn and Landis' syrupy tones on "Hidden Faces"
prove ample evidence to the band's latest evolutionary step.
"Through eyes of the wheel I will see you coming," Von Till
howls, the band erupting in consensus.
__________________________________________________ _____________________

01-Given to the Rising [08:56]
02-Fear and Sickness [07:14]
03-To the Wind [07:38]
04-At the End of the Road [08:25]
05-Shadow [02:26]
06-Hidden Faces [05:33]
07-Water is Not Enough [07:03]
08-Distill (Watching the Swarm) [09:14]
09-Nine [02:29]
10-Origin [11:49]
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70:47 min

AWESOME!!

[Teabags]

It says March, so is it out yet?

You had a listen? Through download or anything. Will have a look for it tonight.

[rune]

Originally Posted by Teabags

It says March, so is it out yet?

You had a listen? Through download or anything. Will have a look for it tonight.

yeah got a promo release without watermarks!

[Teabags]

Got it last night and put it on iPod this morning. Had a quick listen on the walk to work. First song sounded like its off Times of Grace, second song sounded like its off A Sun The Never Sets, 3rd song sounded like Pelican, then 4th song was a nice drone into something like it was off Souls At Zero.

I'm liking it but need a proper chance to sit and listen to the whole thing.

[rune]

can't stop listening to it!! Since day one it's all i have had on lol

[medichi]

It's fuckin' great.

[Hogisbald]

It sure is! A lot heavier than the last album too!

[psydoll]

The description alone makes me all aquiver to hear it.

[Hogisbald]

Originally Posted by psydoll

The description alone makes me all aquiver to hear it.

And so it should, its really worth getting

[Teabags]

Loving it

The 16 second growl on "To The Wind".....fucking amazing.