''Enemy of the Sun'' is the fourth studio album by American

avant-garde metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde elements, including non-standard and unconventional soun ...

band

Neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

. It was originally released on

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single " California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, t ...

in 1993 and later reissued on

Neurot Recordings Neurot Recordings is an American independent record label founded by members of avant-garde metal band Neurosis in 1999. Gradually expanding, it has showcased a variety of artists including a number of sludge metal, post-rock, and noise band ...

in 1999. The album was reissued with new cover artwork on April 20, 2010. On February 14, 2012, a fully remastered version was released on vinyl via

Relapse Records Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists. History The label was ...

. The album opens with a sample from the movie adaptation of ''

The Sheltering Sky ''The Sheltering Sky'' is a 1949 novel of alienation and existential despair by American writer and composer Paul Bowles. Plot The story centers on Port Moresby and his wife Kit, a married couple originally from New York who travel to the Nor ...

''. The cover artwork depicts a statue from

Toddington Manor Toddington Manor is a 19th-century country house in the English county of Gloucestershire, near the village of Toddington. It is in the gothic style and was designed by Charles Hanbury-Tracy, 1st Baron Sudeley for himself and built be ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England – the subject is unknown but is most likely

Saint Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

Simon Marsden Sir Simon Neville Llewelyn Marsden, 4th Baronet (1 December 1948 – 22 January 2012) was an English photographer and author. He is known best for his uncommon black-and-white photographs of allegedly haunted houses and places throughout Europe ...

is the original photographer. This album is the last Neurosis album to feature Simon McIlroy. The track "Cleanse" runs for 26:35 on the original CD and the 1999 reissue. On the 2010 reissue, it was edited down to 15:54. An episode of the TV series ''

Home Improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

'' had the character Mark (played by Taran Noah Smith) wearing a T-shirt that featured the album.

Track listing

Personnel

;Neurosis * Scott Kelly − guitar, vocals *

Steve Von Till Stephen Francis Von Till Jr. is an American musician, poet, and educator, best known as the guitarist of the band Neurosis, in which he also shared lead vocals with former member Scott Kelly. Following Kelly's departure in 2019, he is now the ...

− guitar, vocals *

Dave Edwardson Dave Edwardson is an American musician who is the bassist and backing vocalist of Californian post-metal band Neurosis. He founded the band alongside Scott Kelly and Jason Roeder in 1985, and the group would later form experimental/noise group ...

− bass, backing vocals * Simon McIlroy − keyboards, tapes, samples *

Jason Roeder Jason Roeder is the drummer of the Oakland-based metal bands Neurosis and Sleep. And he played the drums for the fictional band Midnight Riders from Left 4 Dead series. He played in the hardcore punk band Violent Coercion with Scott Kelly and ...

− drums * Pete Inc. − Live Visual Media ;Additional musicians * Kris Force – violin * Erika Little – voice * Paul Lew –

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

;Technical personnel * Neurosis − production * Billy Anderson − engineering, mixing * George Horn − mastering * Michael Whitney − artwork, cover design

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1993 albums Neurosis (band) albums Albums produced by Billy Anderson (producer)