Neurosis (band)
Neurosis is an American post-metal band from Oakland, California. It was formed in 1985 by guitarist Scott Kelly, bassist Dave Edwardson, and drummer Jason Roeder, initially as a hardcore punk band. Chad Salter joined as a second guitarist and appeared on the band's 1987 debut Pain of Mind and then Steve Von Till replaced him in 1989. The following year, the lineup further expanded to include a keyboardist and a visual artist. Beginning with their third album Souls at Zero (1992), Neurosis transformed their hardcore sound by incorporating diverse influences including doom metal and industrial music, becoming a major force in the emergence of the post-metal and sludge metal genres.
Neurosis
Oakland, California, U.S.
- Post-metal
- sludge metal
- hardcore punk (early)
1985–2019/2022 (on hiatus)
- Steve Von Till
- Dave Edwardson
- Noah Landis
- Jason Roeder
- Scott Kelly
- Adam Kendall
- Pete Inc.
- Simon McIlroy
- Chad Salter
- Josh Graham
The band's lineup stabilized in 1995 with the addition of Noah Landis, who replaced Simon McIlroy on keyboards and electronics. That same year they formed the experimental music group Tribes of Neurot and in 1999 the record label Neurot Recordings. This line-up remained stable until 2019, when the band parted ways with Kelly after discovering his history of domestic violence against his family, though this would not come to light until August 2022 out of respect for the privacy of Kelly's family members. The band has been on hiatus since then, as there is currently no information on whether or not the band will continue or disband.
Neurosis have garnered critical recognition over the course of their 11 studio albums. The BBC credited them with taking "heavy music to previously unimaginable spaces ... [and shaping] metal's definitive response to the 21st century."[1]
History[edit]
Formation and early years (1985–1995)[edit]
In late 1985, Scott Kelly, Dave Edwardson, and Jason Roeder, formerly members of Violent Coercion, founded Neurosis as a hardcore punk outfit, inspired also by British crust punk in the vein of Amebix.[2]
In 1986, Chad Salter was added on second guitar and vocals. There have only been a few changes in the lineup of Neurosis' musicians since band's inception. In 1989 guitarist/vocalist Chad Salter was replaced by Steve Von Till, who previously played in bands Transgressor, Peace Test and Tribe of Resistance, and in 1990, Simon McIlroy joined the band as a synthesizer/sampler with Adam Kendall as visual artist (Adam and Simon have been friends since they were teenagers and they were doing a lot of experimental music together before).[3] In 1995, Noah Landis, a childhood friend of Dave Edwardson, replaced Simon McIlroy as keyboardist.[4]
Musical style and influences[edit]
Neurosis formed as a hardcore punk band, performing a blend of hardcore and heavy metal inspired by British punk[24] and described as crust punk[25] or crossover.[1] Already their second album The Word as Law (1990) incorporated avant-garde music and sludge metal,[26] a genre marrying the ferocity of hardcore and the deep heaviness of doom metal. Thereafter, the band developed an original sound. Greg Moffitt of the BBC wrote that through a "process of evolution and refinement" beginning with their third album Souls at Zero (1992) and culminating in their fifth, Through Silver in Blood (1996), they "[took] heavy music to previously unimaginable spaces and, in the process, shape[d] what has thus far been metal's definitive response to the 21st century."[1]
The style Neurosis pioneered has been named post-metal,[27] an "expansive, progressive and often apocalyptic" sound,[1] "adding alien sounds, oddball instrumentation and atmospheric depth to [the] viscerally crushing approach" of sludge metal.[25] Their sound has also been described as experimental[28]/avant-garde metal,[24] doom metal,[24][29] post-hardcore,[30] industrial metal,[31] drone metal,[30] stoner metal,[29] psychedelic metal,[32] progressive metal,[33] alternative metal,[34] art metal,[35] and extreme metal,[24] and as employing elements of folk.[24][33] Steve Huey of AllMusic called it sludge infused with industrial, metal, and alternative rock,[36] while Kory Grow of Rolling Stone called it a mix of "metal, punk, sludge and avant-garde experiments."[37]
When asked what the band's influences are in a 2000 interview, Scott Kelly stated: "Mainly ourselves at this point, but our foundation ranges through Black Flag, Pink Floyd, Die Kreuzen, Amebix, Jimi Hendrix, King Crimson, The Melvins, Celtic Frost and, of course, Hank Williams."[21] In other interviews, members of the band also listed Throbbing Gristle, Joy Division, Black Sabbath, Crass, Voivod, Loop, Godflesh, Swans, and Townes Van Zandt as influences.[38][39][40][41] In 2007, Steve Von Till stated that lyrically he and Kelly are inspired by literature, alluding to writers such as Cormac McCarthy, Jack London, and Paul Bowles.[42]
In an interview with The Guardian in 2016, the band cited the British Anarcho-punk bands of the early 80s "rife with bitterness, rage and fear, but also possessed of a desire to experiment with punk rock’s parameters, be they sonic, visual or ideological" as being a collective influence, including Flux of Pink Indians, Oi Polloi, Icons of Filth, Amebix, Discharge, Subhumans, Rudimentary Peni, Crass and Chumbawamba. Other artists of other genres were also mentioned such as Swans, Skullflower, Hawkwind and Townes Van Zandt.[43]
Some commentators note that both sonically and lyrically, Neurosis convey an intense emotional-spiritual effect.[39] There is a mythical aspect to their imagery or a ritual aspect to their performance. Brandon Geist of Revolver relates that "Kelly and Von Till ... speak about their band in bold, quasi-religious, 'honor and glory'–type language. Words like commitment, sacrifice, surrender, and spirit come up a lot."[44]
Many bands and artists have cited Neurosis as an important inspiration, including
Converge,[45]
Slipknot,[46]
Agalloch,[47]
Yob,[48]
Isis,[49]
Mastodon,[50]
Amenra,[51]
Kylesa,[52]
Pelican,[53]
Wolves in the Throne Room,[54][55]
Cobalt,[56]
Withered,[57]
Baroness,[58]
Oathbreaker,[59]
Chelsea Wolfe,[60][61]
Pallbearer,[62] and
Full of Hell.[63]
Their influence echoes through acts that have defined the post-metal genre, such as Isis, Boris, Agalloch, Amenra, Pelican, and Deafheaven.[64][65]