Souls at Zero is the third studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 from the California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

n band Neurosis

Neurosis (band)

Neurosis is a post-metal band, based in Oakland, California. They formed in 1985 as a hardcore punk band, and their sound progressed towards a doom metal style that also included influences from dark ambient and industrial music as well as incorporating elements of folk music...

 and their first for the Alternative Tentacles

Alternative Tentacles

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

 label. The name was taken from a chapter in the book The Great and Secret Show

The Great and Secret Show

The Great and Secret Show is a novel by British author Clive Barker. It was released in 1989 and it is the first "Book of the Art" in a trilogy, known as The Art Trilogy by fans, but it also can be read on its own....

by horror writer Clive Barker

Clive Barker

Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...

. It was later reissued in 1999 with bonus tracks on the band's own Neurot Recordings

Neurot Recordings

Neurot Recordings is an independent American record label founded by members of Neurosis and Tribes of Neurot. The label was founded to release the side projects of Neurosis and its members. It has since expanded to a fully functioning label, releasing music from artists...

 label. Unlike their previous efforts, this album showcases the band's penchant for playing densely layered, folk

Neofolk

Neofolk is a form of folk music-inspired experimental music that emerged from post-industrial music circles. Neofolk can either be solely acoustic folk music or a blend of acoustic folk instrumentation aided by varieties of accompanying sounds such as pianos, strings and elements of industrial...

-influenced music at radically slower tempo

Tempo

In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...

s. While this album likely alienated a large portion of their early fan base, it has become an important landmark for newer Neurosis fans. In an interview the band stated that the famous cover art was inspired by the movie The Wicker Man but since they could not acquire the licence for the image affordably, they created their own straw figure for the artwork.

Track listing

1. "To Crawl Under One's Skin" – 7:51
2. "Souls at Zero" – 9:18
3. "Zero" – 1:41
4. "Flight" – 4:07
5. "The Web" – 4:55
6. "Sterile Vision" – 6:20
7. "A Chronology for Survival" – 9:34
8. "Stripped" – 8:01
9. "Takeahnase" – 7:56
10. "Empty" – 1:36
11. "Souls" (Demo, 1991) – 8:28 (1999 Bonus Track)
12. "Zero" (Demo, 1991) – 1:14 (1999 Bonus Track)
13. "Cleanse III" (Live in London, May 1996) – 5:38 (1999 Bonus Track)

Band members

• Scott Kelly
  Scott Kelly (musician)
  Scott Michael Kelly is one of three founding members of Oakland, California experimental metal band Neurosis, in which he is a vocalist and guitarist. He has been writing and publishing music since 1985 with Neurosis, Tribes of Neurot, Blood and Time and his solo acoustic project. He is also...
  
   − guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  , vocals
• Steve Von Till
  Steve Von Till
  Steve von Till is best known as singer and guitarist for the atmospheric metal band Neurosis, replacing Chad Salter in 1989. He is also in Tribes of Neurot and Culper Ring, and records solo work under both his given name and the moniker Harvestman...
  
   − guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  , vocals
• Dave Edwardson
  Dave Edwardson
  Dave Edwardson is the bassist and back-up vocalist for the Californian sludge metal band, Neurosis. His vocal style in the band resembles a low growl but it is not deep enough to be a death grunt since it is higher in pitch and more throaty. He is also a member of experimental/noise group, Tribes...
  
   − bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , vocals
• Simon McIlroy − keyboards
  Electronic keyboard
  An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
  
  , tapes, samples
  Sampling (music)
  In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
  
  
• Jason Roeder − drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  

Guest musicians

• Adam Kendall − visual media
• Kris Force − violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  , viola
  Viola
  The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
  
  
• Sarah Augros − flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  
• Walter P. Sunday − cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  
• Siovhan King − trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  

Production

• Engineered by Bill Thompson
• Mix Doctor: Jello Biafra
• Recorded and mixed at Starlight Sound, Richmond
• Assistant engineers: Malcom Sherwood, Jeff Fogerty & Jeffrey Gray