THE EYE OF EVERY STORM

The Eye Of Every Storm is the 9th full-length studio album by American Experimental/ Post metal act Neurosis. The last album by the band Neurosis & Jarboe (2003) was a bit unusual as it was a collaboration between Neurosis and former Swans vocalist Jarboe. That album stands as a bit of an oddity in an otherwise steady development of Neurosis style from album to album. The album before the Jarboe affair A Sun That Never Sets (2001) had seen Neurosis moving closer to post rock without losing their trademark heavy/ sludgy post metal sound. The Eye Of Every Storm should be seen as a continued development from the sound on A Sun That Never Sets. A slow but impressive development in sound that started with the groundbreaking Souls At Zero (1992) album.

The music on The Eye Of Every Storm is the most subtle the band has produced up until then. This by any means does not mean that this isn´t one heavy album, because it certainly is. The raw hardcore vocals have been toned down considerabley though. A development that already started on A Sun That Never Sets. Scott Kelly is an intense vocalist, who can both sing raw and more emotional types of vocals. I should probably add dark, melancholic and angry emotions to that remark. As always when were talking Neurosis those are the emotions that the band excel in. Scott Kelly´s vocal style evoke those feelings. Sometimes I´m reminded of Nick Cave. The songs on the album are mostly pretty long. Most of them between 7 and 11 minutes and Neurosis is the kind of band who knows how to entertain you all the way through those long songs. It´s not that there are multible riffs or fast impressive playing in the songs. Rather they are pretty slow building and atmospheric. I´m actually not going to mention specific songs from the album as I find the album and the songs on the album very consistent in quality.

The production is professional and powerful.

The Eye Of Every Storm is a natural development for Neurosis. It didn´t surprise me at all, and I guess I´m slighly disappointed because of that. I must say that I miss the aggressive nature of their mid-late nineties albums a bit but the band has chosen another path and I´m gonna have to accept that fact. The Eye Of Every Storm is recommended for those who enjoy hybrids between post rock and post metal. A 3.5 - 4 star rating is warranted. This one might not be my favorite but you can´t deny quality.