Sweden's Cult Of Luna are not for those with short attention
spans. Their new album, Somewhere Along The Highway,
contains only seven songs but has a running time of 70 minutes!
No, this surely isn't the death metal that their country is
famous for. It's not even progressive metal, which lengthy
songs may imply. I would call this music atmospheric metal.
The band is good at what they do, but this type of music will
appeal only to a select few. Each song contains long moody
passages, acoustic guitar parts and an occasional outburst
of fuzzing guitars and growls from vocalist Klas Rydberg.
These outbursts are more effective than most bands because
there is always a long build up until the songs climax. The
album plays almost as one continuous song, with everything
blending together. Vocals are far and few between.
This sounds strange to say about a metal album, but I found Somewhere Along The Highway almost soothing at times,
kind of like those CDs you can buy of waterfalls, rain and
the ocean. I could put this disc on and sit back and relax
with no problem. The music is beautiful, especially the opening
fuzz of "Marching To The Heartbeats" and the moody "And
With Her Came The Birds." Synthesizers and sampling further
add to the vibe of the album.
Cult Of Luna's music is emotional and heartfelt soundtrack
with an underlying feeling of sorrow and loss. The depressing
tone should have you feeling better about your own life. There
are other bands that play this style of mood metal. Isis and
Strike Him Centurium immediately come to mind. I would even
say that fans of Yakuza and Tool's more experimental material
will take a liking to this album. This certainly is not for
everyone, but it's something different for the metal genre
and worth checking out. |
