SilentScream213 To my dismay, Neurosis decided to continue the more Industrial, tribal direction they explored on Enemy of the Sun. Gone are the Doomy leads and emotive atmospheres from Souls at Zero and the songs here employ overly repetitive, sample and industrial based soundscapes that end up boring and numb more than anything. The base rock music is bare and simple, and industrial noises are overlayed to give it the illusion of density and complexity, but a slightly focused mind will notice these same noises repeating over and over and over, gnawing away at one’s patience as they fail to build anything epic or moving.

Each transition basically switches one repeating industrial noise/sample for another, alternating between way-too-boring plodding drums or tribal beats. The guitars do little aside from add fuzzy ambiance in many places, what riffs remain are usually boring and uninspired.

The album is also filled with boring song sections or interludes of just samples and noise, breaking up the boring music with even more boring sections of people talking.

For how long and “varied” the songs are, they never seem to go anymore. What’s more, while it is arguably a very negative and oppressive album, it doesn’t really build any mood or convey emotion very well. It’s just a lot of plodding around, fuzz, and tribal madness that mashes together and comes out a dull gray on the other end.

UMUR "Through Silver In Blood" is the 5th full-length studio album by US, California based sludge/Post-metal act Neurosis. The album was released through Relapse Records in April 1996. It´s the successor to "Enemy Of The Sun" from 1993 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as keyboard player Simon McIlroy has been replaced by Noah Landis. "Through Silver In Blood" was recorded in December 1995 with producer Billy Anderson. It was a rather painful labour as some band members had personal issues at the time with drug addiction, homelessness, and depression. "Through Silver In Blood" was preceded by its Tribes of Neurot (Neurosis experimental ambient/noise side-project) companion album "Silver Blood Transmission (1995)".

Stylistically the material on "Through Silver In Blood" builds on the experimental and atmospheric sludge/post-metal of "Enemy Of The Sun" (1993). It´s a harsh, bleak, and heavy album reeking of depression, decay, and frustration. The guitar riffs are slow and doomy, but they are still aggressive and hard-edged in nature, showing that the band have not completely forgotten their hardcore roots (there´s an unhinged "close to feedback" sound to them, which suits the music well). The drumming is almost tribal styled, with drummer Jason Roeder playing rhythmic drum patterns rather than the more usual heavy slow drumming of many doom related releases. The vocals are raw and aggressive shouting alternating between an aggressive mid-range vocal style and a lower end slightly more gruff vocal style (not growling though). Landis builds atmosphere with his keyboards and samples, and the band even use bagpipes and violin/cello on a couple of tracks.

The tracks often build from simple mellow beginnings to loud and raw climaxes, but just as often alternate between the styles, and the material are overall quite adventurous and boundary pushing. Early Swans is definitely an influence (I hear influences from artists like Killing Joke and Melvins here too), but Neurosis are generally a much heavier beast. "Through Silver In Blood" features a heavy, detailed, and well sounding production job, which suits the material perfectly, and upon conclusion it´s a high quality release in its genre. It´s also a groundbreaking release, which has influenced many artists since. The combination of doomy hardcore infused riffs, the aggressive vocals, the tribal drumming, and the bleak atmospheric keyboards and samples, ultimately make for a rather unique listen.

It´s not an easy listen and the slow building repetitive nature of the tracks is probably an aquired taste, but that element is used to support and build the sombre oppressive atmosphere of the album, and it´s a key ingredient of the band´s sound. Personally I think Neurosis take it a bit too far and drag the songs out too much on "Strength of Fates", "Aeon", and on "Enclosure in Flame" (which is basically the last 30 minutes of the album), but again it´s probably an aquired taste if you find those tracks too slow building and uneventful, or if you find them purposedly building dark and brooding atmosphere. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy NEUROSIS continues their steak of innovative metal music on their 5th studio album THROUGH SILVER IN BLOOD. They boldly continue their experimental path by upping some of their traits but also retain others. For example, they still use a little bit of the sampling utilized on the previous album but don't overdo it. Where they excel on this most popular album of their entire discography is in the delivery of the most intense sludgy metal riffs ever created with some intense tribal drumming patterns that are unlike anything metal at this point had incorporated into its mix. In fact some of the drumming reminds me of electronic music mostly associated with psytrance, psybient and other non-metal genres but NEUROSIS freely borrows here and there and successfully fuses it all with some of the most wicked sludge riffing ever! They also master the art of slow hypnotic atmospheric construction. Slow acoustic passages build up to intense aggressive punk-inspired shouted ragefests.

This is a perfectly balanced album that delivers all the right ingredients in the proper proportions. An epic affair if I do say. Although the main instruments include the usual metal suspects such as guitar, bass, keyboards and drums, there is also the occasional appearance of bagpipes, cello and violin. This is a post-metal masterpiece that flows brilliantly from beginning to end. Another one of those albums that rubbed me the right way upon first listen but consistently grows on me more every time I listen to it. Once again NEUROSIS doesn't rest on their laurels. They know exactly how to evolve from one album to the next taking risks by adding new elements but never deviating so far from their core sound as to totally alienate any dedicated followers. With a sound so successful I am thankful that they have chosen to retain a core sound as their template because it is a successful one that deserves a lot of room for exploration.

bartosso Soul Is What Unifies

The pinnacle of sludge, a groundbreaking experiment or a noisy monstrosity - whichever name you choose, it will describe THROUGH SILVER IN BLOOD aptly. Considered by many (myself included) to be the best Neurosis' album, it's one of those records you need to digest before you begin to fully appreciate the content. Once processed by your mind, there's no escape from its hypnotizing beauty.

As befits a sludge band Neurosis are, the music here is based on slow evolution of themes that eventually burst into crushing climaxes. As befits the creative force behind the whole post metal movement, which also applies to Neurosis, those themes and their climaxes are approached with a great dose of creativity. The music boils with abrasive industrial samples and hypnotizing drum patterns that contribute to the album's unique atmosphere. Some other non-metal elements push the envelope even further and infuse the music with emotional charge but I'll leave this aspect of the music to discover for yourself. Most of all, though, THROUGH SILVER IN BLOOD feels so complete and so meaningful in a nonverbal way, that I can't help but wonder how did the band members manage to merge their minds into one collective consciousness and conceive this music.

"The pinnacle of sludge" and "a groundbreaking experiment" are joint winners of the little poll I've conducted among a representative group of one million myselves in as many parallel universes as I could possibly visit at the weekend. This album is a huge and inspirational masterpiece of sludge and metal in general and shouldn't be overlooked by anyone who considers him/herself a fan of experimental metal. Let sludge drip from your ears like honey.

Warthur A compelling album on which Neurosis set out the boundaries of what would later become known as post-metal, fusing their doomy sludge metal riffs and slow, oozing song structures with sonic techniques more reminiscent of post-rock bands such as Godspeed You Black Emperor! or A Silver Mt. Zion - especially when it comes to the use of sampling on the album, which ranges from selecting thematically appropriate quotes to accompany the music to creating soundscapes more reminiscent of ambient industrial music to embellish the background. An impressive example of how a metal band can take on substantial non-metal influences and, if anything, end up even heavier for it.

Phonebook Eater 10/10

“Through Silver In Blood” can easily be defined as the greatest Sludge Metal album ever released.

I’ve thought of Neurosis as a band of the critics, not of the public. This band seems to be praised to death by the first, but they tend to be overlooked by the latter, or simply not as appreciated. People who like any type of metal that is experimental in any way are pretty young, that weren’t around or were not aware of liking it back in 1996, so a lot of people listen to “Through Silver In Blood” only after discovering that they love the genre, so when they listen to this, they might think that there’s nothing new to it. But, in 1996, this was revolutionary, and today we find it a lot less so because of its major influence. Thus it’s historical importance for some might precede the music itself. But doing so would be a huge mistake.

Not everybody is comfortable with the existence of a genre such as “post-metal” ( I must admit I’m one of these), and rather define this as Sludge Metal, or even more precisely Atmospheric Sludge Metal. Lately I’ve seen this term use in a way that maybe wasn’t what I was expecting: bands like Blindead or Ghost Brigade, to name two, have a lot of cleanness to their sound and of course a lot of repetition. As far as Neurosis is concerned, Atmospheric Sludge Metal is everything but clean. As a matter of fact, this album is one of the most face-melting, ground shaking records ever recorded. The heavy, loud parts are full of layers, including some reverb, which very successfully make the sound huge. The tribal drums give a pretty effective apocalyptic feel too. “Through Silver In Blood” has a lot of differences from their previous efforts, it is a lot more progressive and mature in its nature, and the most well done yet. Only a few elements, like the vocal style, persist, but even these have changed a bit, it almost feels like it plays a second role to the music. But things are so much different now, it almost feels like this is a completely new band from the one that recorded “Enemy of The Sun” only three years earlier. The progressiveness in Neurosis’s masterpiece is highlighted with a genius use of sampling, unusual instrumentation (piano, bagpipes), strange metallic sounds and loops here and there, some nice, atmospheric moods that usually start a piece. From these moments, most of the times there is a phenomenon for which Neurosis is especially famous for: building, and climax. These songs start very slow, and have a beautiful crescendo that culminates with some of the most mind-blowing sound textures you’ll ever hear, to then ease down a little bit, and perhaps start another build up. A pattern that isn’t always respected (thank God), since each song is unique in its own way.

Listening to “Silver In Blood” can almost be considered a visceral experience, its like finding yourself in the middle of the ocean in the dark of night, the water is at first calm but it slowly starts to be more agitated, until a huge seaquake creates these enormous waves that go right at you, and your struggling to survive on your little raft. When you listen to this, everything around you seems to be melting, or that maybe an earthquake is taking place. There are many ways, as you can see, to describe this monster. The structure of the album is consistent, and the flow of the songs is just perfect.

The opening title track is a fantastic example of Neurosis new style, because of the layered sound, the samples, and the build-up. “Purify” is another long, perfect track, that has many parts, but all of them are majestically connected, the use of sampled loops here is perfect, and the surprising bagpipes at the end of the song give an unexpected touch of beauty. “Aeon” is another flawless Neurosis track, sounding, a bit different from the other two songs but still amazing. “Enclosure In Flame” is a very unusual way to finish an album; for ten minutes you listen carefully, thinking that the song will explode, but, even if it gets really close to doing so, there never really is a complete build up. “Strength Of Fates” has probably the most astonishing build up ever; from almost unperceivable sounds they arrive to a massive wall of sound, that kicks in at around seven minutes, and goes on for the remaining two minutes. The shorter songs are amazing as well; “Locust Star” has become a classic song for Sludge Metal”, and “Eye”, even though underrated, blows me away every time with its massively thick sound. Even the two interludes, that are basically puzzles of samples, are very well done, and their job perfectly.

I literally have no complaints about “Through Silver In Blood”. This is easily my favorite Sludge Metal record ever, and one of my favorite album of all time. If you’re into metal in general, this album is absolutely essential.

bonnek Through Silver In Blood brings the best of all things Neurosis had been experimenting with. Tribal beats start pounding and building up with layers of electronic sounds and guitars, at 3 minutes, a heavy bass groove gets this monster rolling and it doesn't let down anymore. As in most sludge-core-whatever bands, the vocals might be the hardest bit to get into. Neurosis has the advantage of featuring two skilled shouters, one with those typical dry hard core shouts and another with a deeper growling style. Luckily none of them does any clean singing, an attempt at accessibility that would have greatly diminished the impact of this album.

Neurosis are masters at dynamics. Their sound is very rich in texture, as they employ lots of sampling and sound effects. It ties them to the bands they got their inspiration from. Most obviously that is Swans of course, whose trademark is all over the place here, particularly on the hardest hitting tracks like Eye, Purify or Locust Star. Another ground-breaking industrial band that comes to mind is Foetus. The closing Enclosure in Flame has some traits of them.

Neurosis add brutal doses of doom metal to that industrial sound, as if things weren’t dense enough yet. No, easy digestible music is not Neurosis’ trade. Luckily there’s some room to breathe left and right, as in the opening minute of Purify.

Neurosis were one of the biggest creative forces of the 90’s, blending very diverse influences into a steaming melting pot that would spew a whole generation of copy-cats. Some of those produced excellent albums as well but none ever matched the fire and inspiration of this masterpiece. Approach with utmost care, this may hurt your ears and crush everything inbetween to pulp.

The Angry Scotsman Even with the alternative metal scene in full blossom during the mid 90's, this album stands out from the rest.

Featuring lengthy songs, with slow building structures, an emphasis on atmosphere over musical skill, lots of strange noises coming from guitar, (as well as keyboard!) and highly atypical metal drumming, this album invented the genre of post-metal.

Everything mentioned has gone on to become a bit of a staple, and while the sound was shaped and cemented into what we know today by Isis' "Oceanic" this is the album that started it all. Indeed, Aaron Turner of Isis cited Neurosis as an influence and coincidence he formed Isis the year after this albums release?

The title track starts with an industrial intro and some pounding drums. The gentle sounds of bass and guitar are introduced as another guitar starts fading in. If you are looking for speed or crunchy riffs look elsewhere. Droning riffs plod along for some time as the drumming grows more powerful, leading to a more riffy section with the continuous tribal drumming pummeling along and some strained vocals coming in. They sound a bit like the sludge metal mold.

The twin droning guitar attack drones on and on as everything does with it, leading with a loud summit filled with strange and scratchy noises, then one long outro.

A short interlude gives you a break from what just happened. The same basic notions continue on for the whole album, though the songs do all sound a bit different, even though are similar in style.

Purify is an especially long song with a somewhat peak and valley feel, while Aeon is epic in its own way. Both featuring very gradual crescendo's to a powerful climax. Really the entire songs are designed as a buildup.

The finale, Enclosure in Blood, has the most difficult scale of them all building up to a loud, powerful finale that is not much "more" than the rest of the song. The vocals are as emotional as they are dirty.

This may sound like much, and it is. Upon first listen, I had to turn this album off. I never heard something so boring, and overall unpleasant. This is one of the more challenging metal albums out there, but give it time.

This album is without doubt a challenge, and dirty. No clean vocals here, just a harsh tortured yelling. While there is some nuanced songwriting, (and quite nice) there's not much and no classic ambient sections. This is a heavy, sludgy monolith of an album.

The vocals are not too good, and the songs can be quite much to digest. This is a boom or bust album. Even as it grew on me it can be a bit much in its dirty grandiosity. VERY difficult album but also very good if you can handle it.

Three and a Half Stars

Murder1000Deaths Neurosis is a band that will always challenge me, and I love it. The first time I sampled Neurosis was Locust Star, from this very album. It was interesting, and I had listened to other post-metal such as Dirge and Cult of Luna before. I threw on the album, and sat down for a listen.

The buildups. The drums. It's... terrifying. Some kind of wonderfully fucked up lullaby. The walls of sound throughout are immense, towering over the sonic landscapes. The strange interludes truly add to this album's bleak and horrifying atmosphere (see Become The Ocean, definitely). After the album finished, I was at a loss for words. Never had I heard more disgusting and sludgy music before.

Through Silver in Blood is a metal cornerstone. It defined post-metal within the 1990s, and shocked the music world as a whole. Neurosis may crush your skull. They may scare you shitless. But they will leave you absolutely speechless.