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By JEFF MAKI
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.
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