review: Neurosis

[review by MMB]

Neurosis

The Word as Law

release date: August 25th, 2017

reissue, limited edition, gatefold, 5 colors vinyl

label: Neurot Recordings

This particular recording features an interesting sound: the bass guitar is rather prominent, and the rhythm guitars seemed subdued in comparison, while the drums and the aforementioned bass guitar work together well. The guitars are mostly hardcore and punk.

Unfortunately, the songs are not interesting. It appears that the band wants to do something creative, do something imaginative, but given that it is punk rock, they don't have the skills to do it. Here and there, there are some rocking moments, like on the song "Obsequious Obsolescence." The overall sound is a hardcore and punk sound, but definitely heavier than a lot of punk and the bass guitar does have a cool quality on here. It's nice to hear it, and the energy is good, but the songs, in general, do not have much to stand up because it's mostly shouting and gang shouting for vocals. There is a sense, however, that the band is not working with a strict definition of punk. It's something else, it's that post-80s hardcore sound already rolling along.

Speaking of vocals, it is typical angry-man shouting. There are some different forms of angry-man shouting, the angry-little-man screaming, the tough-guy shouting and just general shouting that's really pleasant to the ears if you like hardcore and punk, but sounds really terrible if you were expecting some actual talent and singing. They have the drive and desire to do vocals, and it's men with no vocal skills besides the ability to shout. For fans of hardcore and punk, this is normal and expected, so it's not weird. The music is a bit different from standard hardcore for sure, but the vocals are more in line with the angry-person approach to shouting in hardcore.

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