Neurosis is back after a ten year hiatus with the newest addition to their discography. An Undying Love for a Burning World is their first album without Scott Kelly, and is coursing with abrasive guitar and enraged vocals. Covering themes of isolation and alienation in modern society, the band switches between frustration with the world and sorrow at what was lost and what could have been.

The album opens with the track "We Are Torn Wide Open", where tormented vocals repeat the line "We are torn wide open" and describe the isolation and suffering of modern life. The anger builds through a transition into full sludge metal in "Mirror Deep" with deep bass and heavy guitar before converting to a slower instrumental section as the vocalist remembers the world prior to its destruction.

The next track "First Red Rays" contains steady rhythmic guitar throughout with growling vocals describing the same desolate landscape and a vacuous, deserted world before the sun appears as the dawn of a new era. In "Blind", the vocalist describes walking away from corruption and toxicity ("Nothing shines until we feel like we are nothing") as a necessary step in the journey to heal ("Longing, longing, sacrifice and sever"). Perhaps this is a commentary on maintaining one's values in society today, or the band's own experience with the dismissal of Scott Kelly from the band.

"Seething And Scattered" continues describing the anguish of "Manufactured separation" and how "We're all disconnected (From ourselves and each other)/ From all that is sacred". Through the second half of the track, a synthesizer drones through the background as the band layers drums and guitar in a transition to the next track "Untethered".

The first half of the album is full of strong, layered sound in both the loud abrasive metal sections and lighter melodic instrumentals. Existential dread emanates from the tracks. "Untethered" and the next track, "The Waiting Hours", feel a bit repetitive after the first string of songs, offering similar themes and song structure.

The album ends with its longest track "Last Night", a slight deviation from the feel of the rest of the album. It opens with a fast tapping drum and a buzzing synth while an airy ambient soundscape floats and drones throughout, giving the feeling of anxiety and anticipation while the vocalist describes the end of the world as the sun disappears. The track builds and then converts to an eerie duet with two vocalists expressing their sorrow as death approaches. The track finishes with the same tapping heartbeat before dissipating.

"An Undying Love for a Burning World" excels in its building of atmospheric soundscapes and the contrast between heavy, dissonant, angry sludge metal and lighter instrumental sections laden with melodic guitar solos and droning synthesizer. As a new metal listener, this is a surprisingly approachable record, often blending heavier sludge metal components with prog rock. The songs are pieced together well as one cohesive project. A must-listen front to back.

Favorite tracks

• Mirror Deep
• First Red Rays
• Blind
• Seething and Scattered
• Last Night