Seed - Neurotica

A one-time lynchpin of the flourishing late-'80s Floridian death metal scene (when he fronted progressive extremists Atheist), singer Kelly Shaefer spent most of the '90s in semi-retirement before finally re-emerging with a new band called Neurotica in 1998. A significant departure from his former group's brutally inaccessible sound, Neurotica's first album, Seed, offered a much more uncomplicated and melodic yet still bruising style of metal, while introducing listeners already familiar with his grunting abilities to Shaefer's pretty decent singing voice. It also boasted a surprising cameo from AC/DC singer Brian Johnson, only here his is a producing role. Unfortunately, this metallic "dream team" can't do much to ignite Neurotica's competently executed, but exceedingly average songs, only a few of which ("Invisible Path," "One Day") leave any lasting impression. Thankfully, the band was just finding their legs here and would improve by leaps and bounds when it came time to release the following year's excellent Living in Dog Years. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide