Review Summary: Neurosis start their career with a promising debut rooted in hardcore punk.
Chapter 1: Crusty Beginnings
Neurosis, as we know them, are the founders of the loosely defined genre of post-metal. While this is indisputably true, they had a much different sound in the beginning. The sound that they had would confuse many modern Neurosis fans, but if you listen closely within, you can hear elements that would later make it to their masterpieces. The album known as
Pain of Mind was made around 1986 and released in 1987 with little to no attention and it’s pretty easy to see why. When I go into the music, you'll understand what I mean.
At this point, Steve Von Till (second vocalist and guitarist) hadn’t even entered the picture yet. He has a bit more of a soothing voice than Scott, and honestly I don’t think it would’ve worked here. They had another vocalist named Chad Salter, who sounded a bit better than Steve probably would have with the band at the time. Dave Edwardson’s growls are still on this release on songs such as Self-Taught Infection, Reasons to Hide, and Progress. Scott’s vocals sound a lot higher in pitch and don’t have the maturity and power of later releases. Lyrically, the album is very angsty compared to their later material with lyrics reminiscent of Black Flag’s
Damaged in a way, but there was evidence of the apocalyptic styles to come. They didn’t quite have maturity in that department yet.
Musically, the album shows some potential for things to come. Jason’s drumming still has some tribal influence, but for the majority he just plays grooves on the cymbals, snare, and bass drum. The tempos are usually sped up a lot faster than their later material. However, there are some exceptions such as the intro to Self-Taught Infection, which also shows some Sabbath influence, the crusty Stalemate, and the
My War influenced Grey. Other than those and some other things, most of the album is at a hardcore punk speed, even the slow songs are usually at a slower paced crust punk kind of vibe. Scott’s guitar riffs are mostly influenced by Black Flag, Celtic Frost, and Black Sabbath here with lots of fast riffing, tri-tones, and noisy sounds. His playing isn’t very mature, but he does show potential. Dave’s bass playing is rather run of the mill, but he shows potential as well with Black Sabbath and Joy Division influenced playing once again.
The albums songs generally range from mid tempo crust punk with lyrics about war to hardcore punk with more angsty lyrics. The crust songs include Self-Taught Infection, Stalemate, Ingrown, and Geneticide. These are all very dark and allow the band to shine a bit more as musicians. The faster songs include the title track, United Sheep, Training, Bury What’s Dead, and Progress. There are a few odd surprises in these tracks though such as Black which shows their folk influence, Ingrown which shows some Swans influence, and Reasons to Hide which is one of the more dissonant tracks here with Joy Divison influence. Many Neurosis fans will look at this as just a punk record, but it’s actually more than that.
Overall, Neurosis gets a pretty good start in their career. Sure, it sounds almost nothing like their later stuff, but it still is worth a listen. There aren’t really any classics on here, but it’s great for what it is. Neurosis’s debut is a lo-fi, energetic, doomy punk record that is good for fans of the band. Many fans of their post-
Souls At Zero records will probably overlook this record, but it's interesting to see how such a unique band began. This album is much more crude and immature than most of their discography, but it is still a good listen.
