Deep Purple

Neurosis

Guest Playlist: Neurosis’ most vital predecessors

Neurosis: Souls at Zero (Reissue)Neurosis: Souls at Zero (Reissue) (Neurot, 2/15/11)

Neurosis: “To Crawl Under One’s Skin”

[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Neurosis_Souls_To-Crawl-Under-One-s-Skin.mp3|titles=Neurosis “To Crawl Under One’s Skin”]

Earlier this year, pioneering sludge-metal band Neurosis reissued its third studio album, Souls at Zero, on its own label, Neurot. Though it sounds just as fresh today, it has been nearly 20 years since that influential mixture of heavy grooves, diverse folk instrumentation, and mammoth metal riffs first cropped up. We asked frontman Steve Von Till to compile a playlist for us, and he came up with 11 bands that were instrumental in Neurosis’ formation and development.

Bands Integral to the Origin of Neurosis
by Steve Von Till of Neurosis

This playlist may contain the secrets to the origin of thousands of bands who became inspired to give it all.

1. Joy Division: “New Dawn Fades”

The driving bass. The melodic yet primitive guitar. The empty and bleak space as large as the riff. The words, “Me, seeing me this time, hoping for something else.” The emotions left behind.

Septicflesh

The Metal Examiner: Septicflesh’s The Great Mass

Every Friday, The Metal Examiner delves metal’s endless depths to present the genre’s most important and exciting albums.

Septicflesh: The Great MassSepticflesh: The Great Mass (Season of Mist, 4/18/11)

Septicflesh: “The Vampire from Nazareth”

[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Septicflesh-The-Vampire-from-Nazareth.mp3|titles=Septicflesh: “The Vampire from Nazareth”]

Metal bands have long employed classical composition techniques. Celtic Frost introduced To Mega Therion in 1985 with a Strauss-ian melody played by a French horn. Morbid Angel cited Mozart as the greatest composer of all time on its sophomore album. Ritchie Blackmore laced his leads for proto-metal band Deep Purple with classical arpeggios.

Continuing in this tradition, Septicflesh‘s guitarist Christos Antoniou recently completed studies in classical composition. As such, the band’s seventh full-length, The Great Mass, is rich in orchestration, handled by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

World in Stereo: Psych Funk Sa-Re-Ga!

Each week, World in Stereo examines classic and modern world music while striving for a greater appreciation of other cultures.

Various Artists: Psych Sa-Re-Ga! Seminar: Aesthetic Expressions of Psychedelic Funk Music in India, 1970 to 1983 (World Psychedelic Funk Classics, 12/7/10)

R.D. Burman featuring Asa Bhosie and Kishore Kumar: “Lekar Ham Diwana Dil”

[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/06-Lekar-Ham-Diwana-Dil.mp3|titles=R.D. Burman featuring Asa Boshie and Kishore Kumar: Lekar Ham Diwana Dil]

World Psychedelic Funk Classics has released a mind-bending collection of Indian grooves that draws heavily from ’70s and ’80s Bollywood. A treasure trove for groove seekers, Psych Funk Sa-Re-Ga! includes a number of wild and tripped-out numbers that speak directly to the melodic wonderland that is India.

Music nerds will be pleased by the limited-edition package, available as a double LP or deluxe digipack CD, and equipped with hefty in-depth liner notes and photos of the thick mustaches and permed hairdos behind some of the the grooviest music that the world has ever heard.

Black Mountain

The Groove Seeker: Black Mountain’s Wilderness Heart

On a weekly basis, The Groove Seeker goes in search of killer grooves across rock, funk, hip hop, soul, electronic music, jazz, fusion, and more.

Black Mountain: Wilderness HeartBlack Mountain: Wilderness Heart (Jagjaguwar, 9/14/2010)

Black Mountain: “Wilderness Heart”

[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/08.-Wilderness-Heart.mp3|titles=Black Mountain: “Wilderness Heart”]

Thanks to endless comparisons to bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath, and tagged as a band obsessed with ’70s stoner rock, Vancouver-based rock outfit Black Mountain has a lot to live up to.  But beyond the umbrella terminology and exhaustive retro comparisons, the group doesn’t receive enough credit for striking a modern chord with mainstream and underground-minded audiences alike.