THE EYE OF EVERY STORM

Aside from a collaboration with Jarboe, this is the first Neurosis album to have come out since A Sun That Never Sets, and the sludge metal had changed substantially since then with acts like Isis issuing incredible albums like Oceanic to challenge Neurosis for the subgenre's crown (and Cult of Luna were fast becoming strong challengers too). Here, Neurosis double down on the bleak direction set by the preceding work, though if Steve Von Till was responsible for "filters and textures" I can't help but wonder whether a different hand on the tiller might have been called for, since much of the album's textures feel kind of off to me to an extent I find distracting. (In particular, the vocals sound thin and weak to me.)