These guys were always ahead of their time and finds music of today coming a little closer to meeting them in the middle. There has always been an unhinged side to the band and this is what the new album opens with. "Til it Clicks" is less explosive, but more of what I want from this band. The darker melody hangs around on "Riot Season" even after the pace picks up. The yowls of self loathing still haunt Jared's gravelly vocals riding the line between screaming and singing. The guitar to "Fucking Tenderness" carries some melody before tightening the tension. The vocals fill the spaces in the song perfectly and the band touching perfectly on all their trademarks without feeling like this song is any less urgent than it is.
The guitar have more of a clanging jangle on "She Who Steps". This is more of a punk song despite being longer than some of the other more melodic songs. Three and a half minutes in it breaks down into a moody exploration. The build in this song might make you check to see if your speakers are blown. Their ability to convey emotion hit you hard on "Clean Up Mean" , which is the first song that really blows my socks off. It's very powerful. "Black Rabbit" finds them stripping it down to just an acoustic. If memory serves me Jared was pulling off these husky vocals back when Neurosis was still roaring all the time. The hit a more sonic heaviness on "Pan In Flames" than reminds me more of the pre-"Up In them Guts" days.
"Enemy Blinds" has more calm in it's storm. It locks in an drones into the nervous break down that doesn't really come until the next song. You can hear hints of how post- rock might have influenced these guys while they were gone. "Alabaster Cello" doesn't really sound like anything they have done before. I 'll easily give this one a 10 as they are back in fine form and not standing stagnant in the legend of yesterday.
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