Neurosis – "An Undying Love for a Burning World"

… And this year's "Out-of-Left-Fielder" award goes to…

I never followed Neurosis very tightly, last record I heard from them being 2007's fine "Given to the Rising". I have become aware, however, that the rest of the band has joined forces with former Isis frontman Aaron Turner after splitting with Scott Kelly since he admitted to having abused his wife and children physically, emotionally, verbally, and even financially, for several years.

For the record, I'm all about second chances and benefit of the doubt. But simply admitting to something does not equal rectifying it. And sometimes, apologies can be too late if the damage done is severe enough. If anyone reading this is in an abusive relationship, you need to get outta that shit. You are worth more than that.

Either way, having gotten new blood into the band (via silver, perhaps?) seems to have prompted Messrs Roeder, Edwardson, and Von Till to perform at their highest. Which, in the case of this particular group, would also mean at their darkest.

In my native Denmark, we have a saying that goes, "Så du røgen?", which, directly translated, means, "Did you see the smoke?". In other words, a figurative fire just broke out, and did you see it coming, then?

That's kinda how this feels. Not only did Neurosis just release an unannounced full-length after 10 years since their last LP; for all I'm concerned it also hits like a fireball. Oh yeah, and it's about the planet being ablaze.

Indeed, it's difficult not to see the Western world's destructively inflamed polarization as the focal point in the exclusively shouted intro on "An Undying Love for a Burning World":

WE ARE TORN WIDE OPEN!!
THE SEPARATION THAT BURNS OUR HEARTS IS THE ROOT OF ALL OUR DISEASE!!!
WE'VE FORGOTTEN HOW TO LIVE, SO WE SUFFER!!
THE DISSONANCE IS DEAFENING!!!!!

The driving guitar figure in "Mirror Deep" is thick, rusty, and primitive. Sharp, screechy, vibrating tracks of noise ascends and descends in the background. It's almost mechanically repetitive, and that only makes it all the more crushing – and the vastly naked pause even more vastly naked. Mysterious, halfway electronic, halfway organic sounds bubbling and squirming. Intensely shouted lyrics, but so hoarsely that it sounds like gasping.

Yet in retrospect, and even in all its apocalyptic mannerisms, the opener is among the less demanding tracks here.

"First Red Rays", like most other of its surrounding cuts, is based on a darkly nihilistic half-note figure. The vocals go from shouting to outright growling. The rhythmic feel becomes more and more jagged, segmented, and – dare I write it in this day and age? – more spastic. But then, like in the opener, a lethargically slow and spacy mid-section that has seemingly nothing to do with the destructive atmosphere so far. That is, until everything explodes in a tightly concentrated hammering riff in what I manage to count as 12/4 time. Either way, all of a sudden, the listener barely has any breathing room.

It is, in fact, rather difficult to come up with a lot of significant observations about something so thoroughly depressed and merciless in all its disagreeable atmosphere.

Neurosis is often, and quite rightly, sectioned as 'sludge'. While they're more than that, there's something about the feeling in "Blind" that kinda reminds me of a band like Crowbar. Unlike with bands like those, however, this never saw any tinge of the blues or any other element which might otherwise be considered redemptive. While aforementioned feeling does carry the same heavy load as the band's sludgy brethren, it is, at the same time, almost uncomfortably tense.

Also here, a lot of background noises that you can't really put your finger on, taking up almost as much space as the guitar. You think the track has come to a natural conclusion, but then, a low, semi-organic murmur and a mesh of squeaky frequencies that almost constitute a motif. Yes, intangible is a keyword with this band; as is anti-commercialism. The figures are deliberately evil and un-catchy. Ain't no damn hit singles 'round here, and that was never the point, either.

Indeed, it is, in fact, rather difficult to come up with a lot of significant observations about something so thoroughly depressed and merciless in all its disagreeable atmosphere. That is, had it not been for +18-minute album closer and minor tour de force in auditive expressionism, "Last Light".

A veil of icy, fluctuating Minor-key textures form the backdrop for a rapidly popping electronic bass drum – as one might imagine the tempo of a galloping heart inside a human being close to dying of panic. No guitars, only primordially growled shouting. This is now officially art. And as one shout gradually morphs into a halfway animalistic, halfway manic scream, a draggingly slow half-time rhythm and one simple lead guitar enter.

Intangible is a keyword with this band; as is anti-commercialism. The figures are deliberately evil and un-catchy.

Normally, things can easily fall apart when a band is so close-yet-not-all-the-way-there, as Neurosis are on this one – some growls aren't fully growls, some figures and cadences aren't that clearly defined. But in this case, it only adds to the nihilism and the tangible vulnerability that's so paradoxically prevalent amidst all the primitive desperation. (Or is it desperate primitivity?)

More so than the preceding tracks, the conclusive one takes its time to an extent where we're reaching a hypnotic level. But then, goddamit, a Major-key figure enters the hitherto so bleak picture. And even in all its distorted guitar sustain and fuzzy production, it tastes like salvation. The mid-section, however, with its electrically buzzing frequencies, coldly piercing back-masked squeals, and a male baritone and two female sopranos singing in three-part harmonics, doubles down on being art. And it damn well succeeds again.

With all the peril of spoiling anything up front, everything ends in something that sounds more and more like improvisation, which, along with the increasingly slow pace, makes the whole thing feel like it's close to falling apart (yeah, there it was again). This is not just music; it's more like a statement. And as aforementioned rapidly popping electronic bass drum fades back in, we've come full circle. But things aren't the same.

Is the world still burning?

Rating: 5 out of 6

Genre: Sludge / post-metal
Release date: 20/3/2026
Label: Neurot
Producer: Scott Evans

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