Neurosis - Given to the Rising

Neurosis often gets categorized as post metal, which I've always kind of objected to.  In my eyes, post metal is about taking the basic instrumentation of metal, and creating atmospheric music that brings the listener into a peaceful and almost meditative state as the music ebbs and flows.  Basically, turning metal into something largely inoffensive.  That was the Isis model, and as much as people say Isis were a Neurosis rip off, the intent of the music was totally different.  Neurosis was not about making metal pretty, they were about tension.  That is, up until 2004's The Eye of Every Storm. 

Even though I already owned a copy of Through Silver in Blood, The Eye of Every Storm was the first Neurosis album I truly got into.  It's easy to see why - it's by far the most accessible of their works.  Sure, they had experimented with a mellower sound on A Sun that Never Sets, but that was a challenging listen in its own way.  The climax of "From the Hill" or the release of tension in "Crawl Back In" required time to appreciate.  So in that sense, The Eye of Every Storm was the first album of theirs that could rightfully be called post-metal, if it could be called metal at all.  But even if it was an easier listening experience for the fan, at least it was a new direction for Neurosis.  Every album they release adds new elements to their sound and new dynamics to their writing, and The Eye of Every Storm was no exception.

Which leads me to Given to the Rising.  It's not a bad album by any means, but it's the first album the band has made that seems more like a recap than a step forward.  To my ears, the album takes the songwriting and dynamics of The Eye of Every Storm, applies an aesthetic most similar to Times of Grace, and accents the whole affair with the industrial-sounding samples and effects that peppered Through Silver in Blood.  

Maybe taking the songwriting and dynamics of The Eye of Every Storm and adapting it into a metal context is not as trivial of a step forward as I'm implying.  Somehow I just worry that Neurosis have reached a point where there won't be any big surprises.  It's probably paranoia.

Anyway, none of this has a major bearing on the immediate impact of the music.  What does matter is the overall structure of the songs.  A few tracks on here (Given to the Rising, Fear and Sickness, Water is Not Enough) seem to be the most riff-based that the band has ever done.  Sure, a song like "The Doorway" has a really recognizable riff, but I feel like the abrasive sound and the way it was mercilessly repeated was more the focus than the riff itself.  These three songs seem to be less layered and immersive than a lot of Neurosis's work.  I will say this about the title track though: it's a great display of just how expressive Scott Kelly's vocals have become.  The vocals have to be one of the highlights of the album in general - not least because of the absolutely epic screams at the end of "To the Wind".  I really want to know if he can pull those off live.  The song isn't on Live at Roadburn so I don't think I'll be finding out anytime soon.