Review CULT OF LUNA “In the Shadow of Your Shadow”

Sweden’s post-metal veterans Cult of Luna return with a new album, In the Shadow of Your Shadow. Their blend of metal, sludge, and doom has been creating a distinct sense of unease for years, and this latest record adds another imposing chapter to their catalog.

The band from Umeå make their intentions clear from the opening track, combining weighty sludge passages with more fragile, emotional sections. The result is a layered piece of music that can feel vulnerable one moment and forceful the next. Bringing these contrasting elements together without losing cohesion takes considerable skill, and Cult of Luna handle that balance with confidence. The title track feels like a relentless maelstrom, dragging everything in its path along with it.

The momentum continues with “Sadness Will Reign,” featuring guest vocals from Gojira’s Joe Duplantier. Like the title track, it takes a slower and heavier approach, relying less on speed than on sheer weight. Repetitive, hypnotic patterns run through the song like a constant thread, while the combination of dense guitars and harsh vocals creates a particularly oppressive atmosphere.

At more than 70 minutes, In the Shadow of Your Shadow is a substantial listen. The two-minute interlude “Landby” does not add much on its own, but its placement works well, providing a brief moment of calm while an underlying tension starts to build. That tension breaks open with “Breach.”

“Breach” begins with an unsettling atmosphere and a steady beat before gradually expanding into something more expansive and immersive. Johannes Persson’s rough vocals provide a stark counterpoint to the song’s occasionally restrained instrumental passages. More than simply occupying the center of the tracklist, “Breach” feels like one of the album’s defining moments.

After the relatively restrained opening of “The Rift,” the song quickly develops into one of the record’s most intense eruptions. Cult of Luna move away from their slower approach and briefly hit the gas, only to retreat once again into a state of melancholy and tension. That constant movement between aggression and restraint is one of the band’s strongest compositional tools.

On “A Way Back,” Cult of Luna explore a different set of textures, allowing dark and understated beauty to emerge gradually. “One More Day” follows with a more direct confrontation with depression and the effort required to simply make it through another day. Slow, shadowy passages reinforce the song’s heavy subject matter, while David Eugene Edwards adds vocals that give the track another dimension and deepen its emotional weight.

By this point, it should be clear that In the Shadow of Your Shadow is a dark and melancholic record, and the closing track, “Burial,” does little to change that impression. Instead, it brings the album to its natural conclusion, maintaining the heavy atmosphere that has defined the journey from the start.

With their tenth studio album, Cult of Luna add another strong entry to their history without abandoning the approach that has defined them for years. In the Shadow of Your Shadow is a personal and intense record, built around heaviness, atmosphere, and carefully controlled dynamics. Its bleak mood feels particularly suited to fall—the time of year when the last colors of summer fade and give way to colder shades, longer nights, and an increasingly ominous sense of darkness.