Through Silver in Blood

Through Silver in Blood is the fifth album from the California-based avant-garde metal band Neurosis. The album was released on April 23, 1996, and was their first record to be released through Relapse Records. The album was reissued in July 2009 on the band's own label, Neurot Recordings. Since its release, Through Silver in Blood has been recognized not only as the band's critical and popular peak,[1] but as one of the sources of post-metal and as one of the best metal albums of all time.[2][3]

Through Silver in Blood
Studio album by Neurosis
Released	April 23, 1996
Recorded	December 1995
Studio	Brilliant Studios and Coast Studios in Oakland, California
Genre	Post-metal industrial sludge metal
Length	70:32
Label	Relapse
Producer	Billy Anderson Neurosis
Neurosis chronology
Enemy of the Sun (1993) Through Silver in Blood (1996) Times of Grace (1999)
2009 reissue cover
Vinyl reissue sleeve artwork

Through Silver in Blood was preceded by Tribes of Neurot companion album Silver Blood Transmission (1995)[4] and succeeded by a split EP between the two projects, Locust Star (1996).

Background and composition

Neurosis bassist and vocalist Dave Edwardson described Through Silver in Blood as "more of an epic undertaking than the last one."[5] In keeping with the band's progressively deeper experimentation into extreme metal, the album is notably slow, distorted, and heavy, drawing from influences such as Black Sabbath and Swans.[6] As the band's first album to feature keyboardist Noah Landis,[2] Through Silver in Blood marked a new level of darkness in Neurosis's experimentation.[7]

During the creation of Through Silver in Blood, the band went through a period of difficulty. Scott Kelly, homeless at the time, was struggling with addiction, and Steve Von Till was going through "heavy things".[8] Von Till called the album's creation "a fucking railroad through hell."[8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]

Through Silver in Blood has received widespread critical acclaim, with some publications citing it as both one of the first and one of the best post-metal albums.[10][3] AllMusic writer Eduardo Rivadavia gave the album a perfect score, praising the album's challenging and rewarding nature.[9] Writing for Rolling Stone, Steve Smith called Through Silver in Blood Neurosis's "transformative masterpiece: a titanic mix of hardcore, industrial and sludge-metal notions and sampled soundbites, balancing oppressive heaviness, hypnotic repetition and surprising vulnerability."[2] Fact placed the album as number one on their list of best post-metal releases ever, writing, "This is alien, and can be unpleasant, but that’s the point – this is the spiritual successor to Black Sabbath, the album that started it all."[3] The A.V. Club writer J.J. Anselmi said, "Through Silver in Blood has played an undeniable role in defining post-metal, and its influence reverberates in the sounds of countless bands. But this album inflicts levels of disorientation, fear, and hopelessness that few records have attained in the past 20 years, giving Through Silver in Blood a shelf life that has yet to glimpse an expiration date."[6]

Since its release, Through Silver in Blood has appeared on several publications' best-of lists.

Accolades

Year	Publication	Country	Accolade	Rank
2011	Terrorizer	United Kingdom	"The Heaviest Albums Ever"	2	[11]
2015	Fact	United Kingdom	"The 40 Best Post-Metal Albums Ever Made"	1	[3]
2017	Rolling Stone	United States	"The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time"	49	[2]
"*" denotes an unordered list.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Through Silver in Blood"	12:11
2.	"Rehumanize"	1:46
3.	"Eye"	5:17
4.	"Purify"	12:18
5.	"Locust Star"	5:48
6.	"Strength of Fates"	9:43
7.	"Become the Ocean"	1:27
8.	"Aeon"	11:43
9.	"Enclosure in Flame"	10:19
Total length:		70:32

Personnel

Personnel adapted from Through Silver in Blood liner notes.[12]

Neurosis Scott Kelly – guitar, vocals, percussion Steve Von Till – guitar, vocals, percussion Noah Landis – keyboards, synthesizer, sampling Dave Edwardson – bass guitar, backing vocals Jason Roeder – drums, percussion Pete Inc. – visuals

Technical personnel Adam Munoz – engineering assistance Mike Johnson – engineering assistance Mike Bogus – engineering assistance Greg Horn – mastering Billy Anderson – production

Additional musicians John Goff – bagpipes Martha Burns – cello Kris Force – violin

References

1. Schafer, Joseph. "Neurosis – 'Through Silver in Blood' Turns 20". Invisible Oranges. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
2. Smith, Steve. "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
3. Jahdi, Robin. "The 40 Best Post-Metal Records Ever Made". Fact. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
4. "Tribes of Neurot – Silver Blood Transmission". AllMusic. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
5. Bromley, Adrian. "Neurotics Never Know – A Chat with Neurosis' Dave Edwardson". Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
6. Anselmi, J. J. "Neurosis' Through Silver In Blood is still crushing, 20 years later". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
7. Mehling, Shane. "Neurosis – "Through Silver In Blood"". Decibel. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
8. Grow, Kory. "Neurosis on 30 Years of Finding 'New Ways of Being Heavy'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
9. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Neurosis – Through Silver in Blood". AllMusic. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
10. Jim Martin, "Retroaction," Terrorizer #188, September 2009, p. 80.
11. Yardley, Miranda. "The Heaviest Albums Ever: The albums Kerrang! forgot". Terrorizer. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
12. Through Silver in Blood (CD liner notes). Neurosis. Relapse Records. 1996. RR 6938-2. Retrieved July 7, 2018.CS1 maint: others (link)