The Wake

For Neurosis fans, the fact that the band's vocalist and bassist Scott Kelly and vocalist-guitarist Steve Von Till have both issued solo records at the same time, is either a boon or an agony. The latter scenario is reserved for those who find the wait between band projects interminable already. Both men release sparse, barely produced recordings of deeply personal songs; both are acoustically based, and both are great. Kelly's The Wake is his second solo effort. The first was issued way back in 2001. Since that time Neurosis has released three studio albums, a live offering, and a few EPs, including one with Jarb”e. The Wake reveals an incredible growth in Kelly's writing. This one feels at least as spontaneous as Spirit Bound Flesh, but at the same time, the narrative skill he's been developing since that time is admirable; he's learned to get down to very specific and frighteningly accessible terms concerning the current state of affairs in his own soul. Certainly this is confessional songwriting, but it doesn't subscribe to storytelling conventions. In fact, there isn't anything studied about this set. It's more that his head is crystal clear and he can get down on tape whatever is happening the moment. As if certain songs built up to a point of cathartic, late-night soul baring, and he responded fearlessly. Without sophomoric emotions that result in false vulnerability or the easy the crutch of rage, Kelly looks into the soul's own dark night and comes out with the details of the journey while in it -- think of a modern-day, first-person Dante's Inferno.