Sovereign

CD (Neurot)

Available from 10/09/2011

14.50 €

Add to Cart - Limited Stock



Latest in series of reissues of the Californian legends' back-catalogue. As with all the reissues, this comes in an o-card package with updated artwork by Josh Graham. 'Sovereign' reissue also comes with the bonus of a NEW track 'Misgiven'. For the last 26 years, NEUROSIS have tapped into the elusive wellspring where resonance and dissonance collude, circling emotional poles where nothing is withheld, where the psyche screams for answers to Earth's ancient mysteries. Originally unveiled in 2000, the four-song, 32-minute Sovereign EP was the first NEUROSIS release issued through the band's own Neurot Recordings, with the vinyl appearing via Hydra Head. In chronological terms, Sovereign served as a millennial segue between two of the band's most revered full-lengths, 1999's Times Of Grace and 2001's A Sun That Never Sets. Opener "Prayer" sets the omnipotent tone for all that follows. A master-class in deep dynamics, the song ascends from its quiet beginnings into a rolling, hypnotic power-dirge couched in a bone-rattling rhythm. The potential mental imagery is vast and varied: A parade of dervishes and charlatans slither across the firelight in Plato's Cave. Mankind's sentence is pronounced. The light swallows everything. Everything becomes nothing. "An Offering" brings arsenic visions of Eden-or at least of the ruinous snake and the tree of knowledge around which it infamously coiled. The book of Genesis and the Iron Age collide in a forgotten corner beyond time. A litany of primordial premonitions torment the psyche, unhinged finally in the song's crushing, apocalyptic ending, which easily ranks amongst the band's heaviest, most effective outpourings. The instrumental "Flood" is a veritable drum cannonade showcasing the percussive prowess of drummer Jason Roeder with accompaniment from guitarist/vocalists Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till. The drums here don't merely resonate-they detonate, exploding across the stereo field like some dark and final pronouncement. It proves to be the augur of just that, a foreboding interlude that bespeaks the thunderous roar and epic proportions of the title track. Clocking in at over 13 minutes in length, "Sovereign" offers perhaps the widest variety of textures, tones and instrumental undulations. Punctuated by Dave Edwardson's ominous bass rumble and Noah Landis' unnerving sound manipulations, the song begins by breathing malevolence in every direction, setting the stage for the female deity or apparition who haunts the lyrics. The song's climax is a barrage of furious chords accented by an unforgettable four-note guitar lament. And then a tumbling descent into a stately, solitary piano line. A searing abyss of bent notes follows, leading to a near-orchestral conclusion. Under headphones, it is a psychotropic experience of the highest order. 
TRACKLISTING:  01. PRAYER 02. AN OFFERING 03. FLOOD 04. SOVEREIGN 05. MISGIVEN 

No comments here, be the first!

Leave a review

Only registered users can comment.

Login to comment