Neurosis - Fires Within Fires

Within metal’s more avant-garde communities, Neurosis are heralded as legends. Ever since their inception in the mid-eighties, they have never been ones to shy away from exploring heavy music’s more cerebral aspects, and from Palm’s ethereal compositions to Mastodon’s gargantuan downtuned riffs, their influence is undeniable. With 2016 representing the band’s thirtieth anniversary, it isn’t unreasonable to expect Scott Kelly and co.’s creative flames to be somewhat exhausted – ‘Fires Within Fires’ confidently exhibits that they are still very much alight.

With Sabbath-esque simplicity with the bombast traded for a haunting vacuity, ‘Bending Light’ takes no time at all to transport you into its bizarre own world. A haunting descending melody sits atop a nervous soundscape that seems to bend time as it sees fit, pushing you further and further into a bad trip before culminating into a gorgeous synth kissed musical trepanning. It’s not until the four minute mark that Kelly’s vocals finally come curdling in atop the juggernaut sludge riffs that Neurosis do so well, yet the eight minute run time doesn’t offer a single dull moment. ‘A Shadow Memory’ opens in archetypal post-metal fashion, its spacious guitars complimented by the soundscape of offensive synths, samples and effects to create a truly intense wall of sound. Channelling a near sci-fi vibe, ‘Fire Is the End Lesson’ sees the band eschew some of the ambience from before in pursuit of a more riff dominated approach, topped by Kelly’s vocal sounding at its absolute angriest. The band’s masterful use of dynamics truly comes to fruition here, enriching the sound with such a high level of musicality that is leaves you simultaneously awe-stricken and wondering why bands like Five Finger Death Punch even bothered forming. ‘Broken Ground’ is truly encapsulating, alternating between mirroring how Deftones’ ‘Gore’ would have sounded if it were fronted by Nick Cave and a myriad of stoned sounding doom riffs that are so perfectly sat just behind the beat that the sense of laid back groove never fails to permeate all that they do. As the album’s finale, ‘Reach’ focuses far more on the creation of a soundscape, skilfully meandering through from its eerily beautiful inception to its eventual droning, distorted and bleak ending, creating a fantastic piece of musical theatre in itself and offering an iconic ending to an impressive album.

On this album, and as a band in general, Neurosis demonstrate little to no willing to inject their sound with any form of commercial appeal, seemingly preferring their creative integrity to the more glory soaked pursuits of many artistically lesser bands. Whilst this may lose them favour and outreach through the usual mediums of rock media, their cult status as heroes will only be further reinforced through this release. Though not in competition for being their greatest album, ‘Fires Within Fires’ is still as vital a listen as ‘Times of Grace,’ ‘Through Silver and Blood’ and the vast majority of Neurosis’ frankly astonishing back-catalogue, and the fact that they remain so exciting three decades since they first graced the scene is nothing short of remarkable.