Neurosis – An Undying Love For A Burning World Review

[Album artwork by Aaron Turner]

Neurosis’s willingness to push past the boundaries of metallic hardcore early in their career has influenced scores of bands across a wide range of subgenres. Hardcore, metal, and untold strains of avant-garde and experimental music have all benefited from Neurosis’s creative determination. In fact, if you’re wondering who to blame for that glut of sludgy post-metal we had to endure a while back, look no further than Oakland’s finest.

Neurosis’s fan base extends well beyond the expected parameters, and the band’s been hyped and hailed in the underground and mainstream press for decades. Neurosis are unquestionably revered, for very good reasons, and like many others, I’ve found the band’s music to be profoundly cathartic and equally rewarding.

Of course, many of us thought we’d heard the last from the band when revelations that Neurosis had fired Scott Kelly (after learning of his long-running domestic abuse) became public knowledge. For a band famed for reconnoitring traumatic artistic spaces, the horror of Kelly’s violence felt extremely troubling. No one in Neurosis ever excused or minimised Kelly’s behaviour. However, as a survivor of abuse, I can tell you that Kelly’s crimes led to soul-searching for some fans.

Neurosis are often cited as preachers of pain. Through their purging of rage, distress, and all manner of existential torments, the band became the avatar of our own liberation. But the same tortured art that Neurosis produced also included the voice of a very real torturer.

Questions arise. What were we listening to? What are we celebrating? Again, no one in Neurosis defended Kelly’s behaviour, and no one in the band is guilty by association. Still, the fact remains, Kelly played a crucial part in Neurosis’s history, and we’ve been applauding an abuser.

Not knowingly, of course. I’m not pointing any fingers here; I applauded as loudly as everyone else. But for some, thinking about the art we consume – asking ourselves questions about its intent and impact – can feel necessary when secrets are exposed. Neurosis are renowned for exploring dark emotions that many of us try to bury. It’s neither unwarranted nor strange to re-examine our own feelings after shocking disclosures.

Of course, Neurosis are one of countless bands that’ve had a vital member commit atrocious acts. We all incorporate that kind of information into our listening choices in different ways. Many of us love musicians who’ve done awful things on and off stage. Does it matter? Obviously, that’s up to you to decide. Separating the art from the artist is the eternal conundrum. (Or not. If your mind’s already made up.)

Still, the raw emotionality of brand Neurosis paints a complex picture. Clearly, for some, the band’s gift for expressing our darkest imaginings might feel a little unnerving now. People opened their hearts to Neurosis. But faith may have been lost; trust may need to be reestablished. For others, of course, Neurosis reign supreme. The band remain undiminished, untarnished, the eternal prognosticators of hope and despair.

Internal (or external) debates about music aren’t a bad thing; it’s always good to think/talk about the art we imbibe. However, what isn’t up for debate is the fact that Neurosis’s recent surprise return was a huge relief for scores of fans.

As you’d expect, the band’s first album in a decade, An Undying Love for a Burning World, was greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm. Even better, learning that SUMAC and ISIS member Aaron Turner had joined the good ship Neurosis made perfect sense, too. There are obvious musical and metaphysical ties between Turner’s work and Neurosis, and unsurprisingly, Turner slots in alongside Steve Von Till and the rest of the Neurosis crew like a natural.

An Undying Love for a Burning World was recorded over three weekends, lending the album a strong sense of energy and immediacy. Clearly, recording the album provided a much-needed cathartic exorcism for Neurosis, and there’s no question the band’s legions of fans appreciated that fact as they rapturously welcomed An Undying Love for a Burning World into their arms. That said, there’s nothing in the album that updates Neurosis’s canon in a revelatory way.

Obviously, untold fans and critics will be losing their minds about Neurosis’s return. There will be endless calls to remind us that the darkness within An Undying Love for a Burning World is, in fact, a guiding light. But that’s business as usual for Neurosis, right?

Also in the ‘business as usual’ column are the contents of An Undying Love For A Burning World. The album features the same ol’ atmospheric music. It features the same ol’ mix of hot/cold riffs and vocals. The same ol’ ambient soundscapes. And the same ol’ gentle saunters followed by the same ol’ thundering explosions.

None of that is to say that An Undying Love for a Burning World isn’t full of dynamic musical pastures for fans to luxuriate in. The album sounds fantastic, and some of An Undying Love for a Burning World’s psychedelic sections are sublime. You’d be a fool to have any kind of beef with Neurosis’s continued brawn, too. The band sound as mammoth as ever, and songs like “Seething and Scattered”, “First Red Rays”, and the truly hypnotic epics “In the Waiting Hours” and “Last Light” will amply reward Neurosis’s fans’ patience.

Of course, many felt that Neurosis were done and dusted, and, as a result, An Undying Love For A Burning World will no doubt feel acutely cathartic for some. But perhaps we’re confusing a sense of overwhelming relief for a sense of genuine awe. An Undying Love for a Burning World has a fittingly heart-gripping title – again, that’s de rigour for the always-theatrical Neurosis – but the songs within follow a familiar post-this-and-that script.

Neurosis are reborn, and for those who’ve drawn succour from the band, that’s understandably thrilling. But Neurosis aren’t birthing anything new here. I realise none of this matters; fans will worship An Undying Love for a Burning World as if it were the word of God, and critics will continue to fall over themselves to praise the album to high Heaven.

All of that goodwill reflects the diehard support that Neurosis have worked hard to foster, and none of that respect is undeserved. Neurosis have clearly helped many fans endure life’s endless trials, even if the band have essentially been turning in the same album since 1999’s Times of Grace.

There’s nothing wrong with staying in your lane, of course. Plenty of the bands that we hold dear have built respected careers sticking to what they do best. But most of those bands aren’t accorded the same critical esteem as Neurosis, nor are they held to the same philosophical or creative standards.

There’s nothing wrong with not delivering a masterpiece every time, btw. Music-making is as mercurial as any other art form. Creativity, like life, is capricious. It’s fine to miss the mark. And it’s important to fail sometimes, too. There are valuable lessons in all of that.

In any case, Neurosis’s ongoing journey through the fathomless depths of the human condition is deliberately designed to provoke powerfully dramatic responses. As such, we should gauge the band accordingly.

If the latest music from Neurosis doesn’t stir your soul like it once did, don’t panic; you’ve done nothing wrong. We’re all moving through changing emotional states, and sometimes, our relationship to X band or Y album reorients, too. Sometimes, music hits. Sometimes, it doesn’t. And sometimes, music simply takes its time to filter through.

Maybe one day I’ll wake up and decide that An Undying Love for a Burning World is my favourite Neurosis album. But not today, my friend. As it stands, I’m very much in the minority. An Undying Love for a Burning World has received a staggering amount of positive press coverage, and to be clear, I’m not suggesting that Neurosis have let themselves or anyone else down. An Undying Love for a Burning World isn’t a damp squib or any kind of disaster. It’s just, you know…¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

We shouldn’t force ourselves to love things that don’t feel right, and it’s fine if you’re feeling underwhelmed by An Undying Love for a Burning World. It’s also fine if you feel that the last few Neurosis albums circled a cul-de-sac of diminishing returns, too.

It’s more than a-okay to also argue that 2007’s Given to the Rising was Neurosis’s last best effort. Music is extremely personal and inextricably tied to moments in time, space, and where we’re at, mood-wise. If an album doesn’t fit, it’s no biggie; there’s always another coming around the corner, and you can always try again tomorrow.

Call me a heretic, but I’m giving An Undying Love for a Burning World a 3 out of 5 – a solid 7/10. Obviously, it’s great to see Neurosis rising like a phoenix, and long may they soar. But An Undying Love for a Burning World isn’t a stone-cold classic return.

At times, An Undying Love for a Burning World is deeply resonant and emotionally bruising, but much of it feels like a too-slow build-up to the album’s second half, which absolutely explores awe-inspiring territory. For that, we should be thankful.

Scores of much-loved bands have returned from the dead, dragging crushingly disappointing albums behind them. That isn’t the case here. Neurosis aren’t dialling it in by any means. But neither are they at their breathtaking best.

I know – fuck me. I’ll see myself out.