NEUROSIS: Long Out-Of-Print Second LP The Word As Law To See Official Reissue Through Neurot Recordings; Album Streaming
Having just wrapped up their North American tour with
Converge and labelmates Amenra, followed by a major performance at Psycho Las
Vegas, NEUROSIS this week presents a reissue of the band's long out-of-print
second album, The Word As Law, in August, making the album officially available
for the first time since the 1990s.
While prior reissues of the album included several
re-recorded bonus tracks from the band's prior singles and releases, the 2017
Neurot reissue of The Word As Law bears the album's initial eight tracks as the
album was intended to be heard, all completely remastered by Bob Weston at
Chicago Mastering. The album's artwork has been reworked and redesigned by
NEUROSIS' former live visual architect Josh Graham to match the label's
previously-reissued Souls At Zero, Enemy Of The Sun, and other titles.
NEUROSIS' own Neurot Recordings reissued The Word As Law
on CD, LP, and digital formats Friday, August 25th.
Stream the entire album early at the Neurot Recordings
Bandcamp HERE, and find merch bundles through the Neurot webstore at THIS LOCATION.
While listening to NEUROSIS' discography in chronological
order, their sound gradually shifts in a very steady and somewhat seamless
progression with each record, though their first few albums are undoubtedly cut
from their 80s punk influences and surroundings. The Word As Law was initially
released on vinyl only in 1990 through Lookout! Records, alongside the likes of
Operation Ivy, Green Day, Screeching Weasel, and other Bay Area punk acts of
the time. Upbeat rhythms and enraged vocals fuel The Word As Law, the record
picking up where their Pain Of Mind debut's ripping punk sound left off, while
the band simultaneously began experimenting with more dissonant, melancholic,
and demoralizing tones that would carve the foundation for their next few
albums and their signature sound.
NEUROSIS had yet to infuse keyboards or synthesizers into
the mix when The Word As Law was recorded by Mark Lemaire at Sound & Vision
in San Francisco
of December 1989. The blend of vocals delivered by guitarist Scott Kelly,
bassist Dave Edwardson, and new inductee on this album, guitarist Steve Von
Till, driven by the powerful rhythms of drummer Jason Roeder, coalesce to
formulate an eerie and original sound on The Word As Law, which results in the
album's cult status as an incredibly groundbreaking album for countless crust
punk, hardcore, and experimental metal artists worldwide.
I still remember the first time I heard The Word As Law,
shortly after it was released in 1990. From the first chords of
"Double-Edged Sword" I was hooked - the sounds seemed to send some
sort of powerful electrical current coursing through my body - and by the time
the feedback faded out at the end of "Blisters" I was emotionally
spent. I had never heard anything like it: The Word As Law completely changed
my understanding of three different musical genres - punk, hardcore, and
metal.
The record blends elements of all three. There is the raw
moodiness of punk. The ferocity and anger of hardcore. The musicianship and
dynamics of metal. But The Word As Law transcends all those labels, in the
process creating something utterly unique.
It hit me on so many levels. It spoke to the anger I had as
a young punk, my sense that I was trapped in a dog-eat-dog world of relentless
capitalist competition, my alienation from the broader society. But it also
resonated on a deeper level. My father killed himself when I was a teenager,
leaving me mourning, feeling as if I were surrounded by a thick fog of despair.
The Word As Law is not happy collection of songs, but it played this incredibly
positive and cathartic role in my life. Listening to it over and over, gave me
an odd sense of comfort. I realized that I wasn't the only person struggling
with deep emotional turmoil and found myself slowly working through the anger
and grief that had enveloped me.
More than twenty-five years later they are still my favorite
band. And I still try to attend every NEUROSIS show I can.
The Word As Law was a massive influence on an entire
generation of bands including my own, Econochrist. It's the bridge to what
NEUROSIS would become in later years. So, put it back on your turntable. Step
to the front the falling is today. -- Ben Sizemore/Econochrist
NEUROSIS Tour Dates:
10/28-29/2017 Ram's Head Live - Baltimore Maryland
@ Days Of Darkness [tickets]
12/08/2017 Clash Club - São Paulo, BR w/ Deafkids
12/09/2017 Teatro Vorterix - Buenos Aires, AR
12/10/2017 Club Blondie - Santiago, CL
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