Review by Vinny for Neurosis (USA) - An Undying Love for a Burning World (2026)

Having taken many years to come around to the lurching sludge and ethereal post-metal of Neurosis, it is testimony to how far up in my esteem they have come that I bought An Undying Love for A Burning World as soon as the pre-order was on offer. Having struggled for years with Scott Kelly’s vocals, only to see that, having finally come to terms with them he was an abusive piece of shit, the change to Aaron Turner feels natural. Not that I would ever class any Neurosis album as necessarily a safe space, to see an important (yet intolerable) member replaced could have been quite a disruptive event overall, yet AULfABW sits right in that challenging atmospheric-sludge space as if the line up has been together, making records for years.

This tension and relief in their sound (as described on their Bandcamp page) has never been more obvious. Haunting dissonance and crushing heaviness seesaw throughout the album like the most familiar of bedfellows. There is a constant sense of fraught drama lurking in the wings of most tracks, but it is hard to say anything comes off as being undesirable in the end. Whilst always vocally adversarial, Neurosis still delivers their musings with such authenticity that is hard to not find resonance with them. It is stark music that rebels against every possible wrong of the world simultaneously, yet no threat is needed when such brevity is in use. This is expression on a human level, riding on a virulent strain of futility whilst being chased by the spectre of hope. As such you could be forgiven for finding this a bleak album. To my ears it rinses the beauty out of the most unobvious spaces, acknowledging that suffering and salvation perhaps come from the same base source and are inextricably entwined as a result. Both are in effect, natural outcomes.

Having a ten-year gap between releases has seemingly reinvigorated the group as they have managed to make a record that will not only rank highly in any lists I get around to making this year, but in the scheme of their discography, this is a triumphant continuation of their already well-established legacy. Notwithstanding that there are clearly some tough times captured on the record, AULfABW is not necessarily pessimistic to my ears. It is blunt and to the point yet gloriously expansive in its scope. Far from being a kaleidoscope of styles though, the album is no deviation away from what Neurosis fans have come to expect. Records with real depth such as this one should be celebrated.