Review Summary: Surprisingly varied crossover thrash debut.
Let me begin by saying I am not a fan of hardcore punk. I am here as a later Neurosis fan with an interest in investigating their origins. Therefore, from that perspective I may not be the best to judge whether this album is good hardcore punk or not, more so this album review may be better as a guide to other Neurosis fans interested in their beginnings. At any rate, I will do my best to review this as a piece of work on its own, rather than in the light of Neurosis’ subsequent recordings.
For those of you unaware, Pain of Mind is Neurosis’ debut album, released in 1987 on the Alchemy record label. Self produced by the band themselves, it’s murky and raw as to be expected from a self produced punk album of that era. I had always been led to believe that they began as a straightforward hardcore band, but upon listening to the album this is definitely not an accurate description of Neurosis’ genesis. Pain of Mind has much more of a Crossover Thrash vibe than I was expecting with aspects of Doom and even a tiny touch of AOR.
This variety is not immediately obvious as the title track races out of the tracks with what I consider a typical hardcore vibe. At this point, I was thinking that this style would be repeated for the remaining 13 tracks but was pleasantly surprised when the second track “Self-Taught Infection”, began with a serviceable doom-like Sabbath-esque riff, before exploding into a raucous crossover thrash second half. This is certainly a highlight of the album and sets the template for what is to follow in that most songs mix slowly or mid tempo riffs with ones that are hardcore or crossover thrash.
Fourth track “Black” is the major exception to this beginning with an AOR tinged riff reminiscent of a seventies mid-range rock band, before heading into mid-tempo punk territory with spoken word verses and sung choruses. Another highlight of the record that works even though it should not and my personal favourite song on “Pain of Mind.” In a parallel universe, this would have been the hit single from the album.
Lyrically the album is straightforward and deals with themes typical of punk and thrash. “United Sheep” is anti-conformity and uses the simple metaphor of people as sheep with lyrics like “Follow the sheep, as the wolf leads the sheep to slaughter” while “Stalemate” has an anti-war agenda “Standing there shaking in terror, I clutch my gun in despair”. “Progress” is an anti-establishment song with lyrics like “Greed controls our lives, money kills, taught to think and act and lie, break the will.”
The only link to be made to their later, more famous work, is Neurosis’ willingness to incorporate disparate styles of music in their crossover thrash template and mainly in the unusual song structures that populate the album. Worth a listen for those interested in seeing where the mighty Neurosis came from.
