The final installation of Neurosis Times of Grace after the release of the companion album Grace by Tribes of Neurot, which was created to be played simultaneously with the parent album (in the Halo-Guattarri post I had mentioned a particular sample from that great album...) is the Sovereign EP, which takes its cue from the last track of Times of Grace called "The Road to Sovereignty" and expands on that track's mood. Times of Grace was to be Neurosis' last "loud" album for some years, as from Sovereign up to The Eye of Every Storm they became quieter and more subdued or "neurotic." And actually after they decided to become louder again with Given To The Rising, they started sucking unbelievably, and the three albums they've released since then are godawful and the epitome of what happens when you decide to play "metal."
Anyway, Sovereign paves the way for the style they fully explored on A Sun That Never Sets, and possesses a similar sound with lots of acoustic guitar and the clear production of Steve Albini, which, although quite good for others, sounds too clean for me for Neurosis. Let's see what he'll do with the forthcoming Sunn O))) album.
The main interest of Sovereign though is the four bonus track that were only found on the cd-rom part of the cd. For some reason when I decided to make this post, the cd-rom part was no longer playable due to changes in their website or some shit, and the only thing I could retrieve was some visuals. I emailed them to see if they could send me the tracks, never got a reply, but fortunately I found them on a dvd-r where I had saved them. Phew. Of these four tracks, only one has made to other releases, and more particularly "Misgiven," which was included in the remastered release. 2000 cd on Neurot Recordings.
Happy new year!
Neurosis - Sovereign the bonus tracks
Neurosis - Sovereign the actual album
Neurosis - Sovereign the visuals
