Pain of Mind

Before they evolved into a highly unique progressive metal outfit in the mid-'90s, Neurosis were your typical Bay Area post-thrash, post-hardcore hybrid. Wait a minute...maybe that's not so typical. Either way, the raw, undeveloped band that recorded the short bursts of hate and attitude contained on Pain of Mind in no way resembles the awesome trance-riff machine of later years. Sure, tracks like "Life on Your Knees" and "Grey" possess their peculiar charm, but with vocalist Scott Kelly usually screaming a tad too close to Slayer's Tom Araya for comfort, the best was certainly yet to come. [CD reissues of the band's next album, The Word as Law on Lookout Records, feature four tracks from Pain of Mind as well as two 7" single rarities, making it a pretty sweet introductory package to the band's less essential early material.] ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide