Review CULT OF LUNA ‘The Long Road North’

Cult Of Luna founded in 1998 in Umeå, Sweden by Klas Ryberg and Johannes Persson. Both of them are still part of the Cult Of Luna line-up and driving force of the post-metal trailblazers.

The band premiered in 2001 with the self-titled debut album, the start of a successful journey through the sounds of impactful metal. ‘A Dawn to Fear’ was the latest studio album by the Swedish metal outfit which gets with ‘The Long Road North’ a successor.

The new longplayer picks it up where the band left off with ‘A Dawn to Fear’ and the 2021 EP ‘The Raging River’. Nine new songs, that’s what the album delivers and what’s included are all the trademarks the Swedes stand for. There are the loud and soft interactivities, the roaring vocals and the tangible voices and there is a gloomy vibe that runs through each of the tracks.

‘Cold Burn’ is the opener of the album with a beginning that sounds with the fanfare-ish sounds like a soundtrack for the marching in of the musical gladiators. Supported by pumping beat the start of the album sounds dramatic and strong. Hoarse screams and a hypnotic thrill make ‘Cold Burn’ to an excellent start, a nine-minute epos that also entails some turns and pattern changes without losing the context.

With ‘Beyond I’ and ‘Beyond II’, the album also includes two atmospheric tunes. Both songs establish a counterpart to the heavy outbursts on the album. Intensified by the female vocals on ‘Beyond I’, these two tracks create sinister arcs of sound that fit the album extremely well.

Atmosphere is also what ‘Full Moon’ spreads with a purposely integrated repetitiveness . The song transfers seamlessly to the title track, which is next on the album. ‘The Long Road North’ is a 10-minute epos, one out of three tracks that pass the 10 minutes line. The song spreads an oppressive beauty which is addictive. It’s a subliminal and calm melancholy that characterizes especially the beginning of the song. The pattern runs through the entire track but becomes a heavy and vicious one with the start of the bloodcurdling vocals.

Cult Of Luna’s new album is a next highlight in the impressive storyline of the Swedish post-metal pioneers. It’s certainly their most mature album to date and it’s a personal one too. The title symbolizes a mental journey, Persson went through himself. This is one of the factors why album and songs sound authentic. It feels like each of these monster tracks just started with a flow of ideas, something that came naturally without having been forced at any time. Hereby the album, with all the heaviness and darkness, includes a kind of darkened ease which is another contrast and thrill-factor.