Scott Kelly and The Road Home

It's been said that Scott Kelly is brave. Within his duties as a founding member of Neurosis, his guest vocal appearances for Mastodon and Yob or his solo work, the vulnerability beyond his gruff exterior is celebrated. But despite his lengthy discography, The Forgiven Ghost in Me, his third solo album, leads the listener to think that we really don't know him all. Not that he's being purposefully deceptive, but there are so many images and concepts, so many ebbs and flows to his incredibly open, deep and, at times, surprisingly loving voice that they may be symbolic of a newly found peace with life, or he is extremely troubled. In "A Spirit Redeemed to the Sun" and "The Forgiven Ghost In Me," there is a surprising joie de vivre in his voice, but "Within it Blood" ("I'll stand alone in this judgment, carrying the weight of my soul") and "The Field That Surrounds me" are extremely bleak. Aided by the Road Home ― Nate Hall (U.S Christmas) and vocalist/guitarist Greg Dale ― and Neurosis members Jason Roeder, Noah Landis and Josh Graham, the careful addition of baritone guitar, keyboards and melodies matched with Kelly's countrified guitar style make the excellent The Forgiven Ghost in Me more about the emotional journeys we all have travelled and less about where Kelly is in his.