Review: Neurosis ‘An Undying Love For A Burning World’
I could debate the separation of the art from the artist here, but I won’t – many column inches have been dedicated to the troubled past of the Oakland post-metal titans Neurosis, and I leave that for you to decide without my input.
On Friday, 20th March, however, they roared back out of the blue with An Undying Love For A Burning World, their first album in a decade – news as seismic as the sledgehammer riffs they built their career on.
The band that defined and sits atop the mountain of post-metal dropped their twelve long-player without fanfare on an unassuming world, and it’s a lot to talk about.
Their last album, Fires Within Fires, came in times that feel far behind us in terms of the state of the world and let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room here, Neurosis themselves. Filling the obvious void is Aaron Turner on guitar and vocals duties, joining the lineup of vocalist/guitarist Steve Von Till, drummer Jason Roeder, bassist Dave Edwardson, and keyboard player Noah Landis.
Turner (of Isis and Sumac fame), who has long been intertwined with the band, contributed significantly to the album as it came together over 2024 and 2025. His ragged voice and abrasive guitar style injects new life into Neurosis, even as they insist this is not a reunion. For all the turmoil, the band never split, and this rebirth feels as necessary as air. They once more hold a mirror up to the world to display all its ugliness and beauty, declaring on the album’s intro, We Are Torn Wide Open, ‘We’ve forgotten how to struggle… so we suffer… we’ve forgotten we are wild, so we suffer… We exist in isolation, so we suffer’. This harsh, a cappella mantra jolts you back to hearing 1993’s Enemy Of The Sun, the discordant cries, full of boiling frustration, marking a departure from the more cerebral approach of albums such as The Eye Of Every Storm.
The concussive blows of Mirror Deeprecall the churning fury of Through Silver In Blood as the rhythmic, lurching riff rages in a way that many felt were in Neurosis’ rearview mirror. It is not all blunted bludgeon and buried deep in the track are moments of calm and serenity in the motion sickness-inducing chaos. Swirling electronics boil in the background as the semi-industrial edge adds layers to the dense wall of sound. Notably, Turner’s voice is striking on first appearance as his bull roars mingle with Von Till’s strangled rasps – a new twist on the sound in the band’s arsenal, but one that complements the music and never feels out of place.
First Red Days lumbering riff is slow and deliberate – after the sci-fi-like synths, it prowls like a caged animal, and once more Turner growls over the thick sludge with deathly, guttural proclamations. Here they start to twist the knife and ambiance collides with manic drumming, discombobulating electronics and machine gun like guitars. It looks to gather threads from all eras of the band and stretch the boundaries of their writing, closing with clean vocal harmonies and an almost soothing feel. Sure, the loud-quiet-loud dynamic is nothing new these days, but Neurosis built the church on which many genres worship and here they show that they haven’t lost their ability to leave you battered and bruised.
Blind follows, creeping, unsettling, and slow before the main riff, while Von Till strains, hoarse and impassioned over the hypnotic beats. As he pleads, the music warps – those vertigo-inducing swoops and dives, repurposed here, have felt long absent from the world. Now, they are reignited like some portentous prophecy of old coming true as the band rages against the state of humanity. What once seemed like an echo is writ large and befitting the dystopia that surrounds us and yet balanced against this are quiet moments of tender, simplistic beauty.
An Undying Love For A Burning World is the most important album of the year, no contest…
The striking riff that opens Seething And Scattered carries a groove over the rumbling bass that shakes underneath. On one of the most accessible moments of the album, it is easy to trace the DNA that influenced bands like Remission-era Mastodon. The jarring chords change and shift with ease as the band force you to stay in the moment, no matter where they take you.
Neurosis have always excelled when they present a challenge, confrontational in earlier years and more existential in later works. Here, more than ever, they draw together the experience of their forty-year existence. An Undying Love For A Burning World takes you through the slamming grind and squealing feedback of earlier releases and the ambient, atmospheric weight of the likes of Times Of Grace. It might be too long to pick apart in a thousand words on a tight deadline, but following the band and the more experimental elements of Von Till’s side projects, there are flashes that nod to the likes of Harvestman – elements that feel like the field recordings and bobbling, bright electronics of Triptych sit nestled in with the cavernous drone, blunt force trauma and howling discomfort on Untethered.
The final act, In The Waiting Hours and Last Light, is nearly half an hour of raging contradictions that channel the existential anxiety that we face. Deep at their core, despite the discomfort they have deliberately sown in their career, lies a deeply human soul that yearns for a connection. Over the years, the heavyweight bludgeon moved to a more considered approach, but here they combine the two. The stately riffs of the former track, after an extended calm, still bristle with raw ill feeling – born not out of youthful rage, but a knowing sorrow and a desire for things to be different
The emotionally wrought close, complete with tribal drumming, signs off what is undoubtedly the most vital release of their career. Reborn through trials and yet clawing for hope, it is fitting of the message they have projected – An Undying Love For A Burning World is the most important album of the year, no contest.
Label: Neurot Recordings
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Mark Hunt-Bryden
