It was a red-letter day for dark souls.

Devotees of H.P. Lovecraft descended upon Rhode Island for this year's NecronomiCon Providence, a mammoth, multi-day convention paying homage to the literary horror icon. The event took musical form – sort of – Saturday night at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in the Strand, a downtown landmark and favorite haunt of Lovecraft himself. Neurosis, fresh off their European tour, made a rare New England appearance. The opening act: Lustmord (aka Brian Williams), for whom concert dates in general remain a special occasion. Here was the godfather of “dark ambient” taking the same stage, on the same night, as the godfathers of “post-metal”, both acts still reigning sovereigns of the sub-genres they are commonly credited with creating.

A performance like this was bound to raise questions. Who among the attendees would be Lovecraft fans of the non-metalhead variety, merely intent upon experiencing the full range of festivities the weekend had to offer? This might be answered by the number of people who beat a hasty retreat upon being confronted with some of the heaviest riffs imaginable; for it is an inevitable irony that Neurosis, presumably no strangers to Lovecraft, create unforgiving soundscapes that would compel the notoriously sensitive writer to run screaming from the room were he somehow alive to hear them. But how many metal-hardened Neurosis fans would have the patience for Lustmord, whose compositions tend to lack vocals, guitars, and – for that matter – actual percussive beats?

I could only answer these questions by showing up in person. As it turned out, nearly everyone in the room was an obvious metalhead. Shortly after the doors opened, a 2005 silent adaptation of “The Call of Cthulhu” was shown on a screen at the front of the rather ornate venue; around it gathered several people, who watched intently and applauded at the end. Everyone else congregated toward the back, drinking and socializing and perusing an impressive table of merchandise. By about 6 o’clock – this was an early show – the crowd had been heavily augmented by the teeming ranks of Neurosis fandom.

The level of devotion involved was easily gauged in casual conversation. I spoke with an earnest, bearded young man named Larry, who had driven all the way from Maryland with his friends – and it wasn’t even their first Neurosis show of 2013. (“So all of this Lovecraft stuff must seem pretty weird to you?” “No, I’m familiar; I dig his stuff.”) These were veterans of the much-heralded Neurosis/Mastodon gig of Brooklyn Masonic Temple, January ’08, and my impression was that they were not atypical.

Lustmord

Lustmord’s set consisted of an unbroken piece lasting about an hour. Recognizable samples appeared here and there – the clarion-like intonation and unearthly cries from the first track of Heresy, for example – but the through-line was a steady (if erratic) bass pulsation. This was all laptop-based, but the stage was somewhat enlivened by visuals, as kaleidoscopic and geometric patterns – emphasis on pentagrams, clouds, and fire – were projected on the screen behind him. At least half of the audience appeared fully engaged for the duration; the others continued mingling to the extent possible.

I myself came away unconvinced, not only of Lustmord’s effectiveness in support of a band that plays metal (Melvins collaborations notwithstanding), but also as to how well his work translates to a live setting. His records, in all their disquieting glory, seem best enjoyed in solitary contemplation, and whatever feeling one derives from that experience is not something that can be compensated for simply by increasing the bass levels. Perhaps more to the point, the Neurosis oeuvre is already replete with ambience and built-in moments of extreme restraint – slower, quieter passages verging at times on unnerving silence. An entire opening set that functions according to that same principle comes dangerously close to…

Making…

The anticipation…

Unbearable…

But Neurosis did eventually take the stage. When this happened, an intense energy took over, seeming to radiate in waves across the expanse of the room even before the first note was played, and not letting up until the five members of the band had made their exit well over an hour later. Scott Kelly, in particular, exuded an aura of utter concentration; this was a man occupying his own zone. Lighthearted calls from the audience went not so much unacknowledged as unheard. Some slam-dancing was attempted early on, but the impetus for this had largely abated a few songs later, perhaps because mere displays of physicality were an insufficient means of homing in on the sheer seriousness of this music.

Neurosis

Not surprisingly, the setlist leaned toward newer material: 'We All Rage in Gold', 'At the Well' and 'Bleeding the Pigs' all were rendered with impeccable sonic intricacy closely mirroring Steve Albini’s recording of their Honor Found in Decay incarnations. (Things like the spoken female vocal snippet from 'My Heart for Deliverance' were carried over intact.) Other songs performed stretched back far enough to include fan favorite 'Locust Star' from Through Silver in Blood, while the aughts era of the band was represented in 'A Sun That Never Sets', 'Distill (Watching the Swarm)', 'The Tide' and a particularly bone-shaking 'Stones from the Sky', which closed the show.

There was then a sense of darkness giving way to light, a catharsis terminating the intensity.

Snippets of conversation overheard on the way out were uniformly positive. But all along, alcohol-lubricated goodwill had pervaded the atmosphere. Perhaps this had not been such a grim occasion, after all.