That transcendent feeling of instant gratification; placing the needle on the marble grey vinyl of Through the Eye of Every Storm, sipping a cold Pacifico and cranking the stereo to heaven brought a smile to my face when it was released a few seasons back. Given to the Rising has inspired that feeling tenfold. Its a masterpiece done  by  top craftsmen.

Given to the Rising was recorded by Neurosis musical documentarian Steve Albini at the famed Electrical Audio in Chicago and every nuance is captured to its fullest and most dense by Albini’s magical ear.  Unlike The Eye of Every Storm’s lush melodies and molasses-like songs, Given to the Rising has quite a few driving, panic inducing dirges that give homage to past efforts without recycling riffs and concepts.  “To The Wind,” is an up tempo number, proceeded by an ethereal keyboard intro, which quickly breaks into one of the coolest and moodiest Neurosis riffs on the record. 

This is the soundtrack to the apocalypse and more importantly, it’s the soundtrack to what comes the next day.  It would fit nicely with Cormac McCarthy’s The Road giving gravity to hope and futility of human struggle. Ethereal wisps of hope dot the horizon of Given to the Rising’s claustrophobic landscape. If this is their document of leaving a legacy behind, then brothers and sisters Neurosis is cresting the peak of their collective talent as artists. I will go on record right now and congratulate Neurosis on making the best record of 2007 and quite possibly of their entire two-decade career.

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