Neurosis to the bone, no doubt about it

Mastodon's slot as the special guest openers for Neurosis at their two Brooklyn shows was a blessing and a curse for the headliners. In the past few years, Mastodon have clearly passed cult heroes Neurosis in popularity, and they did Oakland's post-metal pioneers a great favor by bringing a much wider audience to the sold-out shows at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple. But as with Nirvana, Metallica and other well-known acts who've opened for the underground artists that inspired them, Mastodon's attempts to pay tribute to the headliners were hurt by the fact that Mastodon soundly blew them away.


Listless starters US Christmas came and went without note, and the audience's chants of "Mastodon!" started only moments after the first act started packing up their gear. Kicking off with 'Hearts Alive,' the 14-minute pinnacle of 2004's Leviathan, it was clear that Mastodon were treating the fans to something unique. It would be unthinkable for a band to start off with a slow-building monster epic on some of the recent tours Mastodon's been playing--many fans of Against Me and even Converge wouldn't have the patience. But it was perfect showcase of timing and musicianship before Neurosis, whose slow-burn influence is in traces of the song, even more so than the Mastodon songs that actually feature Scott Kelly.

The rest of Mastodon's set was heavily focused on Blood Mountain, which the band probably wanted to get the most out of before their upcoming new album starts dominating their shows. The blazing 'The Wolf is Loose' and 'Circle of Cysquatch' threatened to pulverize the walls of the Brooklyn Masonic Temple, and lesser-played tracks like 'Heart of Stone' and 'Meglodon' reminded everyone that the deep cuts on Remission, Leviathan and Blood Mountain trample on the signature works over most metal bands in history. Guitarist Brent Hinds, sporting a Melvins t-shirt and enough facial tattoos to compete with Mike Tyson, mugged demoniacally while trading hooks and arena rock poses with bassist Troy Sanders, and the duo's shared vocals (Hinds is more melodic and Sanders is gruffer) underscored the band's character and versatility. Along with stoic rhythm ace Bill Kelliher, the trio worked frantically to not get buried under Brann Dailor's chaotic drum rolls and snare annihilation while a roomful of tightly-packed headbangers roared their approval.

By the time Mastodon ended their set with two standouts from Remission, 'Where Strides the Behemoth' and 'Mother Puncher,' I was wondering if their debut really was their best best album. More likely, the best Mastodon song is always the one currently pulverizing your eardrums, and when the Georgian metal gods waved goodbye and ran off stage, I was left with only one question. Is it too soon to give Mastodon the '00s the way that Pantera held the '90s, Metallica ruled the '80s, and Black Sabbath owned the '70s?


Neurosis are so widely imitated that it's often hard to hear how groundbreaking they were when they started. One of the only prominent bands to infuse metal with alt-rock in the early '90s, Neurosis' sonic innovations paved the way for Tool's prog elements, Isis' ambiance, Candiria's post-metal, Mastodon's math-thrash and countless drone-metal peasants who'd be unthinkable without 1996's astonishing Through Silver in Blood. But watching Neurosis follow-up Mastodon's unadulterated awesomeness, I began to wonder if Neurosis' contribution to metal had been superseded by newer artists.

Sabbath-worthy opener 'Given to the Rising,' the title track on Neurosis' new album, proved right off the bat that Neurosis are still the undisputed gods of psychedelic metal, and the chugging "Hidden Faces" unearthed a hypnotic stoner metal groove that built up into an overwhelming barrage of distortion. They never changed the pace from slow-grinding assaults of sludge metal, and they never had to, as gruff, hirsute guitarists Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till commanded all the crowds' attention by barely moving any muscles and somehow seeming like they were going to kill us all. Or at least explode our heads with the godzilla-riffed "Water is Not Enough" or the earth-shaking "Distill."

Neurosis' set featured no stage banter, no encore, minimal breaks between songs, and almost no songs written before 2004. Their uncompromising choices were admirable, and expected for such a groundbreaking act, but their one-chord drones and ceaseless measures of the same riff again and again were unable to capture the excitement and intensity that their openers carried.
After stretching out the ending feedback of "The Doorway" to a good five minutes, Neurosis walked offstage without acknowledging anything not related to the music all night. Awesome show, guys--next time, want to let Isis open up?

Check out some footage from the shows, with some interviews about the upcoming rekkid. They all have the same intro, but it's four different videos: