Customer Reviews

Given to the Rising

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Neurosis have been defining post-metal for two decades, and here they continue to show us what it really means to be heavy. Heaviness is not non-stop groaning and bashing and screaming, like you get from every two-bit nu/extreme metal hack who's currently polluting the market. Instead, true heaviness comes from nuance, intelligence, and dynamics, and Neurosis continue to elevate metal to its deepest potential. This album is a masterpiece of sonic landscaping, with gutbucket riffs and insistent rhythms sharing space with atmospheric keyboards and chaotic noise. The Neurosis strategies of tightly coiled aggression and relentless aural design result in music that is somehow both terrifying and illuminating. The bludgeoning opener "Given to the Rising" is a perfect indicator of the full Neurosis assault, while the introspection-to-aggression dynamic is most evident in "To the Wind," which even starts with a little incisive balladry. This album peaks with the one-two-three punch of controlled violence in "Hidden Faces," "Water is Not Enough," and "Distill (Watching the Swarm)." Metal that's not afraid to slow down, focus its aggression, and control its attack will have the fullest impact with the thinking listener. Neurosis have helped define that attack throughout their history, and they continue to perfect it here. [~doomsdayer520~]

Perhaps no band has rendered the sound of the apocalypse better than Neurosis, and their most recent effort, Given to the Rising, delivers the sort of sensory carpet bombing that fans have come to know and love. Their previous release, 2004's The Eye of Every Storm, was an excellent effort, but didn't really feel to this reviewer's ears like a "true" Neurosis album, as the eerie minimalism that had always been part of the band's sound occupied the forefront much more than on previous releases. Fortunately, the buzzsaw riffs that introduce the title track serve convincing notice that the Neurosis that released such imperious classics as Times of Grace and Through Silver in Blood is still very much in existence. That's certainly not to say the band has abandoned the textured atmospherics entirely--Nine sounds like something Tom Waits would do in one of his more avant-garde moments, and much of Origin sounds like Tool minus the pseudo-intellectualism--but most of Given to the Rising ranges from slow, twisted, and ugly to mid-tempo, twisted and ugly. The guitars are simply amazing here, piling on layer after layer of momentous, hellish riffage that drives home the claustrophobic heaviness of the music like a railroad spike, a sharp contrast to the more spacious soundscapes that made of much of the previous album. More important than any stylistic concerns, though, is the simple fact that from front to back Given to the Rising is one of Neurosis's best written efforts, and anyone familiar with their catalogue will know that's saying something. As is par for the Neurosis course, songs typically stretch into 8-10 minute territory, but even at half that length the band's brilliant use of hypnotic repetition and bowel-rattling rhythms would lend them a distinctly epic feel. Even at their darkest and most punishing, Neurosis show a skillful grasp of dynamics and progressions--witness Fear and Sickness's sudden transition from an ominous tribal chug to a harrowing midsection filled with searing guitar noise and tortured howls, or the way At the End of the Road builds from a creepy, Godflesh-style crawl to a gut-wrenchingly heavy and cavernous conclusion. For all fans who like their metal on the dark and frightening side, Given to the Rising, like most every Neurosis release, is absolutely essential.

Given To The Rising is a sonic slab that blasts it's way out of the speakers and into the minds of those who shall listen to it. This is by far one of the heavier albums Neurosis has ever made. Harkening back to bits of "Souls At Zero", but with newer feeling like "A Sun That Never Sets". Steve Albini has mixed an excellent album with Neurosis, and I hope that this combination continues for another 22 years. The Limited Edition is in a Digipack Sleve, ten tracks, booklet and lyric sheet. Neurosis also limited DVD Documentary on the making of this album available also, a must have for a collector, great to see the band give their thoughts on what they produced. Check this album out, a must own, and great intro for newcomers also.

These guys prove that metal can be a form of art when played by talented people with artistic integrity and who are free to play the music they want. The kind of musical landscape they create is perfectly illustrated by the beautiful artwork of the CD. As usual with Neurosis, it may take some time and several listenings to fully appreciate the music, but it is a rewarding effort.

I first heard and saw Neurosis live in Los Angeles 1994 and they have been one of my favorite bands. Albums in the 90's were masterpieces or doomy, psychedelic beauty and chaos. After somewhat going to a new, more ambient sound in 2000 it took me awhile to like their new style but loved A Sun Never Sets and the Sovereign EP. Really, after listening to Sovereign it was obvious the direction they were eventually going towards. I thought Eye of Every Storm was a good idea going even to a softer sound but seemed like the attempt of overdone vocals and bad mixing somewhat was disappointing considering the music itself was bland and not that interesting, I was wondering if that was the last of this band.
This album though is incredible. Definitely the best album since Times of Grace I think. The music itself is back to being a similar incredible sound they have been known to do while having a good balance of vocals that is a little more in the background this time around. Has an eerie, uncomfortable sound scape to it that has a little bit of elements of the 90's sound with ideas from Eye of Every Storm but is really in entire class of it's own. I just hope I am able to see them live once again because as great as they are on record, the live experience is something I never forgot.

First and foremost, I would like to make clear that I by no means claim to be an authority on Neurosis, or any form of post, sludge, drone or whatever term would normally be attached to this unique piece of metal. Formerly the only exposure to this genre that really caught my ear and kept my avid attention was the great band Isis. Most other post-metal acts generally leave me vaguely dissatisfied or completely uninterested. Isis seemed simply light years ahead of the likes of Jesu, Red Sparowes and a myriad of others. Perhaps it is a bit unfair for me to disregard every other band of the growing post-metal movement that fails to live up to the standards that Isis set with the vividly colorful and ever evolving release "Oceanic," but I simply cannot help myself. After all, Isis was my first exposure to this genre, and unavoidably the most lasting. Soon after experiencing the widely acclaimed release "Black One" by the oddly named Sunn o))), I completely gave up on dark-drone-whatever metal, writing it off as largely uninspired, or as in the case of "Black One," completely and utterly laughable. When "Given to the Rising" was released, my attention was briefly drawn back to this obscure spectrum of metal. Neurosis had been a band I had always intended to sample, but not desperately enough to gamble on getting another slab of mediocre waste. With nothing left in my Amazon wish list, and a couple of bucks to blow, I decided to risk it. The gamble was well worth the reward, being a complete and absolute rejuvenation of faith in the genre of post-metal.

"Given to the Rising" is a beautifully, and utterly bleak sound scape. Mountains of lead-heavy riffage crash against each other layered more often than not with almost Sonic Youth-esque pillars of haunting noise and feedback. (Fear not those who have yet to experience Neurosis, this sounds NOTHING like Sonic Youth. I am merely trying to paint a close to accurate picture of what you are in for, and at the moment, no other band I can think of adds white noise to their music with such strong end results. I would hate to scare you away from such a great band by mentioning the largely despised Sonic Youth in reference to this masterpiece, but you know, for lack of a better example..) Those who have experienced "Given to the Rising" could understand this, those who haven't might be a little put off by this description. Neurosis do not simply offer metal with a dose of noise, the mix is masterfully crafted into something delightfully haunting and highly artistic. This is, as cliche as it sounds, simply one of those albums you have to hear to believe.

The riffage in "Given to the Rising" much like Isis, is dominantly repetitive, and at times quite melodically complex. Also, like any Isis album, "Given to the Rising" is completely demanding of your unwavering attention. This is not just another mindless metal album that bashes you over the head with raging rivers of adrenaline, nor is this something to be used as background music. This album is most appreciated when listened to in its lengthy entirety, (at about 70 minutes) and with minimum unnecessary stimuli. "Given to the Rising" is a sensory experience that you want to totally immerse yourself into. Littered with sometimes subtle, sometimes terraced dynamic shifts, abstract and haunting things happening in the background, and an overall thick, foggy, tar-like atmosphere, "Given to the Rising" offers a multitude of rewards to the careful, imaginative listener.

From someone largely unimpressed and relatively ignorant concerning the post-drone-sludge metal scene, I nevertheless urge you to give Neurosis' "Given to the Rising" a chance. Presenting us with an album that gives other great albums of 2007 (Such as Ulver's "Shadows of the Sun," Pain of Salvation's "Scarsick," and Porcupine Tree's "Fear of a Blank Planet,") some very stiff competition, Neurosis have definitely won at least one new fan with "Given to the Rising," and I imagine there will be plenty more to follow.

I like a lot of bands. Neurosis is the only band that I love. By the end of this album I was practically in tears. From Scott Kelly's inhumanly long howl at the climax of "To The Wind" to Noah Landis's ability to create galaxies of sound within songs. Neurosis continues to rise above any standard that anyone could give them. We should consider ourselves lucky to be alive while this band creates

If you have been following Neurosis for a while, this album will be more than rewarding. If you are just picking it up to understand Neurosis, then prepare to buy every single album that they have made because this album will blow you away.

This is why fans of Neurosis follow this band...They have never strayed, compromised or weaken their sound for any reason...If you have never heard this band, then buy this album and discover why some people have been listening to this band since the late eighties...This is truly one of Neurosis greatest works...

You can almost hear the "huzzah!" from the Neurosis fanbase. It's been a while since they've sounded this tight and pissed off. As much as the band is shying away from grandiose return to form announcements, that's almost what you have to consider Given, as I thought they had "matured" beyond this stuff. 2001's A Sun That Never Sets dialed down the distortion and played with folk influences, while The Eye of Every Storm deviated even further with some mopey shoegazing of uneven quality. Not exactly bad, but not great either. Meanwhile the art-metal craze that Neurosis helped pioneer took off like a nuclear-tipped rocket, as bands like Isis and Transmission0 took the quiet-to-loud thing and ran with it. It's a pleasent surprise, then, that the leaders have returned to take their rightful place at head of the pack. You can almost picture the look of rapture on the listeners face as the opener gets right into things and dumps you off into an active volcano. This is Neurosis at their best - they're trippy, heady, and can stop a rhino in its tracks. On the "heavy" parts anyway. Of course because this is Neurosis those parts come bookmarked by quieter, harbringer-of-doom moments (instead of just doom), all wrapped up in a sound that wound make Zeus wet his pants. A worthy effort.

This is the first Neurosis album I have bought and I have to say it is quite impressive. well worth buying if you're into bands such as Mastodon, Isis, Dream Theater or Opeth I'm not sure how to describe this band but I have to say that they were a cross between Doom Metal and ultra-heavy post rock. Neurosis create long builds that make the listener pay attention, rewarding them with a tidal wave riff that floods the mind with visions of mystery and darkness. The lush elements brought on by the keyboards and clean picked guitar riffs are what help to flesh out this album and make it more interesting than your typical heavy metal band.

They create landscapes of sound that bands today use quite often in their music and songs such as To the Wind, Hidden Faces and the lengthy Origin use these elements to push the limits of their songs into territory that has been explored before, but not to this depth. The drums and bass were also excellent and you could tell that the group worked really hard as the attention to detail was quite extraordinary. This Neurosis album isn't something you can just start playing when your friends come round, it has to be experienced on your own with headphones, that's why I enjoyed listening to this more on my Ipod. Neurosis are a band that not everyone will appreciate but if your the type of person that has an open mind or likes listening to complex music filled with rich details and textures then you'll enjoy this. The album clocks in at 70 minutes with only 10 tracks, two of which are brief spoken interludes sounds very epic.

The vocals of Steve Von Till can sound rather weird and raspy to a first time listener, but once the songs begin to unfold the voice drops into the background and the gargling-on-broken-glass type of vocals begin to fade. This is really one of the only downsides to this album that I can find. Von Till however makes up for his lack of vocal tones by writing lyrics that are spiritual and dark, adding to the many moods this album has. There are a few spoken word interludes (Shadow and Nine) with screeching or pulsing keyboards. The album also contains tracks that really rock and there are faster moments as well, the album is heavy and crushing yet gentle in parts, soothing and calm but that all leads to false hope its what they do better than any band that I have heard of, I just downloaded a few tracks from their previous albums just to see how they compare to this and some of their older stuff was pretty awesome in my opinion. Overall this is an album that will take a long time to appreciate.

To the average music listener this album is unfortunately not for you, not to say that this is one of those bands that you wont understand, but the songs contained on this album are simply too long for a generation of music listeners who like their music short and to the point. For the more ambitious metal head such as myself, this album is like a breathe of fresh air that I will never get bored with. If you have the patience and the time to take in an album with songs averaging 7 minutes then this album will be rewarding and keep you coming back for more. Given to the Rising should please old fans as well as newer ones like myself.