From its days at 924 Gilman to Ozzfest, Neurosis has kept it real with a sound akin to Grotus—the now-defunct S.F. industrial sludge-core outfit—and the more bludgeoning moments of the Melvins and Will Haven. At one point, the various members of Neurosis were living in different states while still managing to tour and release material. To help develop some of its musical ideas, the band recently formed its own label, Neurot. On its latest album, Neurosis creates more than just a cerebral slaughter of the mind; Steve Von Till and Scott Kelly bounce screams off one another with enough urgency to make any metalhead go mindlessly destructive. Neurosis truly is the progenitor of some yet-to-be-named genre that feasts on gray matter. Listening to Neurosis, in layman’s terms, is akin to a hammer blow to the head after one too many penguins.
(SN&R)