Neurosis - Given to the Rising

Sometimes 'metal' is a tag best avoided. It's just not worth the baggage. Take Neurosis, commonly known as the "thinking man's metal band" (as though the phrase in itself were some kind of oxymoron). Despite being fiercely independent and consistently producing music that is at once deeply affecting, intelligent and pioneering, they can still be found in the same high-street CD racks as Disturbed or Trivium. Preconceptions should be cast aside in such cases. Though Neurosis' guitars are indeed thunderous, the vocals bellowed and the subject matters sombre, this album courses with ingenuity and genuine artistic pride. The collapsing rubble of both the opening title track and Hidden Faces remind us where Will Haven drew influence from. The claustrophobic dynamics of At the End of the Road and Water is not Enough also betray the origins of Isis' better ideas. Von Till's guitars pummel and haunt throughout, the vocals veer from angry god to Tom Waits whilst Noah Landis' keyboards consistently imbue eye-of-the-storm-like serenity amidst the fury and make for an album which is utterly hellish but in a very, very good way. [Chris Cusack]