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Class 6(66)
Neurosis: Times of grace
25/09/08 || The Duff
Released: 1999
Introduction
Neurosis are a band that I hate to love; the only band where, if I listen to one album, I’m cursing the fact that there aren’t more hours in the day to listen to the rest of their discography. It’s as if they write every album with their entire back-catalogue in mind, and so to miss out on any whilst tackling the one is considered a half-measure in appreciating their greatness. Now I shall prevent myself from chomping down within the band’s collective anus for just a second to give you the proper introduction to “Times of grace” – whereas “Through silver in blood” was the introduction to the whole plodding-riff “theme”, it was more the tribal-atmosphere the disc had that was most apparent; on “Times of grace”, the pendulous, black/no-hope vibe that would predominantly grace later outputs was brought to the masses, causing greats like Cult of Luna et al. to take notice. Neurosis rule!
Songwriting
9. Neurosis are masters in the art of putting every note to good use, and although an instrumental/soundscape section (i.e. not the meat of the songs) may drag on slightly past its worth (a rarity on a Neurosis album, definitely), “Times of grace” is smooth-running right the way through. The music here is grimier than on the last outing, and there also seems to be a lot less going on within the songs – they appear less winding, the true purpose to this album being more to drag you down and pummel you with both the weight of the riffs (a very intense guitar/bass collaboration – just check the last song for proof of this) and the music’s depressive nature.
Production
8. In regards to how fitting the production is to the music, this should get a perfect score; as a stand-alone deal, it’s very dry/raw, and quite crusty, if that makes any sense – kinda like there’s sand in your speakers when the distortion kicks in. It’s not like the disc couldn’t have been made heavier if the overall sound were sharpened, but there are times when you’re grateful things are left as they are (as with the ending track’s soaring guitar twin-fist super hammer-smash attack + 9” GIRTH UP YOUR ASS!); there is such a thing as too much bass, even with this kinda music.
Guitars
7. The guitars are best described as simple and very heavy; everything is played to create an atmosphere, draw the listener in by creating violent, mood-setting soundscapes. There is a very disturbing nature to this album simply without the harsh, raging vocals, with riffs having a great, swinging rhythm and menacing, bludgeoning energy about them that will have those looking for downtuned heaviness satisfied as well as those looking for intelligently written music with subtle, dark undercurrents.
Vocals
8. Neurosis have always been known to provide expressionate vocals, even if it is just a case of snarling one word and whispering another. I think Scott Kelly manages the harsh grunts and Steve Von Till the calmer vocal sections, but I could be wrong – my knowledge in such matters remains cloudy despite the five or so odd years I’ve liked the band; I have no clue as to who covers the real guttural shit (maybe their bass player, David Edwardson?), sometimes referred to as “The Highlander”, if I’m not mistaken (again, I probably am). Needless to say that, although very monotonous, the vocals are fittingly very primal, mixing energy and emotion only to deliver a raw finished product.
Bass
8. The backbone to many of the riffs, yet oddly enough not as loud as you would think. It’s kind of there in the background, but at the same time you’re made aware of its presence at all the right moments, chiefly when the riffs are at their heaviest. Picked up by bands like Cult of Luna, the diminished bass-sound that can still pack a punch where required is quite common in this style of music, left light enough so as to preserve the progressive nature of the music but also heavy enough to remind you you’re listening to a band with its roots in heavy metal.
Drums
8. Simple, cumbersome, always adding a groove to what could just as easily be very jarring. Again, another element to Neurosis’ music that can most easily be identified in later bands such as Cult of Luna et al. There are times when you can tell Jason Roeder is more than just a basic, plod-a-long drummer, though – the guy can be very tasteful when he wants to be, even though this music doesn’t exactly demand it of him.
Lyrics
10. Awesome; I won’t pretend I understand even one line, it all being very open to interpretation, ambiguous even with such taken into account, and on top of it all plain fucken weird due to the fact that the lyrics appear to have been written by someone who has traveled the dimensions of time and space channeled between existence and non-existence and which can only be reached through wisdom, enlightenment and bags and bags of drugs. I give the lyrics a full score because of the energy behind some of the lyrics sung; yeah, I get it, all scores should be kept separate, but I think all the components of a Neurosis album belong together, and it’s very difficult to separate it all and judge each part irrespective of the several other bits and pieces that make it so much more potent.
Cover art
5. Not the best Neurosis cover artwork; the worst, to be frank, next to “Souls at Zero”. It gets a five because it’s fitting with the somewhat psychedelic nature of the music, post-rock bizarreness and all, but even when measured alongside “A Sun that Never Sets” and “The Eye of Every Storm” on such a front, this record falls flat on its face; when compared to “Enemy of the Sun”, “Through Silver in Blood” or “Given to the Rising”, as the French would say, “laisses-tomber, zizi; caca; prout-prout – MARMELADE!”.
Ah, I’m six years old again.
Logo
5. I do love the Neurosis logo, but only because I immediately associate it with the finest music I’ve ever heard; as a stand-alone thing, the “O” is the logo’s most striking aspect, probably because it looks like an eye of sorts or the tightest anus in all the galaxies.
Booklet
6. Lots of weird shit; spirals, colours, suns, dragons, phoenixes, rings of fire and bleeding eyeballs. That is the entire booklet I’ve just described, without trying to be clever (real fucken genius work on my part, I know). It would get a four, but then you start reading the lyrics and consequently are reminded of just how hard Neurosis rule.
Overall and ending rant
9. The band had simplified their sound by this point, going for bludgeoning force as the center-point to its music. All the separate parts of this album reviewed belong together to form something far greater than they would suggest were they experienced by themselves – this is just one of the many untouchable aspects to the band’s music, including some of the bleakest/most introspective/psychedelic music you’re likely to hear. If you’ve yet to experience Neurosis, I would suggest “Through Silver in Blood” if you want something heavy; the next logical step after said album is “Times of Grace”, which is Neurosis perfecting their shit and still writing some of metal’s heaviest moments, all the time making it sound as though the end could come at any second.
