Neurosis

Neurosis formed in Oakland, California in December 1985, initially as a hardcore punk band inspired by British crust punk acts, particularly Amebix. The founding members were Scott Kelly (guitar/vocals), Dave Edwardson (bass/vocals), and Jason Roeder (drums), all formerly of Violent Coercion. Their debut LP Pain of Mind appeared in December 1987 on Alchemy Records. A pivotal lineup shift came in 1989 when guitarist Steve Von Till joined, followed by keyboardist Noah Landis in 1995.^[1]

Beginning with Souls at Zero (1992), the band radically transformed their sound by incorporating doom metal, industrial music, tribal percussion, and avant-garde experimentation. They became a defining force in the emergence of post-metal and sludge metal. Influences cited by the band include Amebix, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, the Melvins, Celtic Frost, and Hank Williams, alongside literary figures such as Cormac McCarthy, Jack London, and Paul Bowles.^[1]

Their breakthrough came with Through Silver in Blood (1996) on Relapse Records. Subsequent albums including Times of Grace (1999), A Sun That Never Sets (2001), and Honor Found in Decay (2012) cemented their reputation as one of heavy music's most uncompromising forces. The BBC credited them with taking "heavy music to previously unimaginable spaces," and their influence extends to Mastodon, Isis, Converge, Baroness, Agalloch, Yob, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Chelsea Wolfe, among many others.^[1]

In late 2019, the remaining members quietly expelled co-founder Scott Kelly after discovering the extent of his domestic abuse. Kelly publicly confessed and retired from music in August 2022. The band's delayed public statement was issued out of respect for his wife's direct request for privacy.^[1]

The uncertainty of those years was compounded by further losses. Legendary engineer Steve Albini, who had recorded Souls at Zero and Through Silver in Blood and helped define the raw sonic identity of the band's most acclaimed period, died in 2024. Founding drummer Jason Roeder also announced his retirement, ending a four-decade tenure as the rhythmic foundation of the group^[2].

After years of uncertainty, the band invited Aaron Turner to join. Turner, the founder of Hydra Head Records and frontman of Isis and SUMAC, had a decades-long relationship with Neurosis: his projects had released material on their Neurot Recordings label, he created visual art for the band, and Neurosis had taken Isis on tour. He began rehearsing with the band in April 2024.^[3] Von Till described the choice as almost too obvious at first, before recognizing that Turner's energy and commitment matched the band's perfectly.

The resulting album, An Undying Love for a Burning World (2026), arrived as a surprise release in March 2026 with no prior announcement, their first record in a decade. Released on their own Neurot Recordings label, it received near-universal critical acclaim. Von Till described the record as emerging from "the existential confusion and sorrow of the climate crisis and the sixth mass extinction," framing Neurosis's music as a method of collective survival.^[4]