Live Review: Neurosis

The progenitors of the post-metal scene, Neurosis have influenced heavy music over the last two decades in ways that few bands could dream of. Despite their stature, the band members still have day-jobs and tour infrequently, so it’s been a long time coming, but they finally made it to Australia, and a large and respectful Monday night crowd was here to greet them.

Even after 29 years of writing and performing, even after Brisbane has seen tours from scores of bands that they’ve influenced, Neurosis live remains one of the heaviest things you will ever experience. Hypnotic and aggressive and intense, their music is dense, almost overwhelming at times. Fortunately the mix tonight is well-produced, and there’s great clarity between the individual instruments in even the heaviest moments, so that even when the music verges on wall-of-noise, the occasional use of melody is able to shine through and alleviate the bleakness. The only complaint regarding the mix is that it’s over-loud, verging on painful at times. Neurosis’ music is punishing and bruising, but tonight that’s a literal description, rather than merely a figurative one.

The patches of dark ambience that start most songs provide a necessary and important breather, but the slower moments don’t always work – Von Till’s voice is a little soft during the start of The Tide. Even at their weakest though, Neurosis are still interesting, and there’s never long to wait before the power ramps up again. The whole of a track is not always equal to the best parts of that track, but when it all comes together (which is most of the time), this is as good as you will see live music get.

Without the distraction of videos, the focus rests entirely on the music and the performance.

Neurosis were renowned for the visual accompaniment to their sets, but that’s been set aside for the moment, and the show is, if anything, more powerful for its absence. Without the distraction of videos, the focus rests entirely on the music and the performance. Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till howl with emotion, and the whole band throw themselves into the songs entirely. There’s no reliance on the latest release; while Honor Found In Decay makes a welcome appearance, it provides only three of the tracks for tonight’s set, which covers five albums – from ‘96s Through Silver In Blood onwards.

Following the impressive heavy tom work of Bleeding The Pigs, and the squalling guitars of The Doorway, Stones From The Sky, from 2001’s A Sun That Never Sets, closes out the show in style, a 12-minute encapsulation of everything the band does best. From the dark ambience of the introduction to the clanging bells and country-influenced guitar parts that slowly repeat, repetitious layer on repetitious layer until it becomes a form of communion, into the howling noise and washed-out fuzz of the final build. Until the house music comes on and the lights come up, barely a single person turns to leave, still rapt in the moment and hoping for just one more song.