Search - Cult of Luna :: Somewhere Along Highway

4th on my best of 2006 list

Miss N. Thrope | Leftcoastfogland | 03/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Introspection, and isolation are words that come to mind when I am listening to Cult of Luna's "Somewhere Along the Highway". This band has been labeled as sludge doom and "post-metal", a genre-du-jour that of late has been used to describe bands such as Neurosis, Isis, The Red Sparrows and Pelican. In fact, some places even state that the genre was created by Neurosis, with the others following their lead. Cult of Luna has often and unfairly been dubbed imitators. This album surely illustrates that this band are an entity to be noticed. They have created a dichotomy of glacial delicacy and brutal loneliness and loss.



I wonder often about the term "post-metal", since so many of the tracks on this album certainly sound like "metal" to me. There is no doubt that the churning guitars and pounding drums on tracks "Finland" and "Back to Chapel Town" are heavy enough to qualify as decidedly metal. Vocalist Klas Rydberg illustrates that he can roar with the best, as well as sing in a beautiful clean and soothing way.



The fourth track is a real treat, and displays Rydberg's beautiful low and mellow clean vocal style. "And With her Came the Birds" is an icy doom ballad that creeps along at a funereal pace. Slow and sparse reverb-laden guitar chords are played to support banjo (yes, banjo) arpeggios while Rydberg chants the seriously unsettling lyrics:



"Dead man with pitchfork arms tells me all that he knows.

Leave me here for the crows.

In the fall she came back, and with her the birds."



Minimal and disturbing, this song has to be the most unique single "song" I have heard all year. This song alone would have reserved a spot on my list. It is followed appropriately with the wonderfully gloomy "Thirtyfour", a song that decidedly proclaims this band's doom metal roots.



A convenient term when describing an album of this sort is "atmospheric". Overused, even by me, this term certainly applies to the songwriting found here. Much of the last two songs "Dim" and "Dark City, Dead Man" is instrumental. Cult of Luna takes the high road, so to speak, by not including a trendy "noise" or "drone" track. All of the songs on this album, albeit hypnotic in places, are melodic and carefully composed. Abandoning political and social themes, this album contains subject matter that is much more personal and introspective. The lyrics throughout tell a story of the archetypical search for the ideal other, longing, lost love, and loss of identity. The heartbreaking denouement "Dark City, Dead Man" could almost be used as a movie soundtrack in parts. It is epic, sprawling and moody with an ending that will leave you on the floor.



I cannot finish this review without mentioning the production. This album was recorded and mixed in a barn in the middle of nowhere. I am amazed at how perfect the natural reverb of this place complimented the music as written. The result is stunning."