Cult of Luna

Along with The Ocean and Isis, Cult of Luna plays a style of music akin to the mighty Neurosis. This type of music has received the classification tag, post hardcore. Like Neurosis, these Swedes blend elements of hardcore (especially the vocals), sludge and ambient textures. Cult of Luna's latest album "Eternal Kingdom" contains ten lengthy tracks that traverse between impactful, doom-filled rumbles and gentle chord play. The extended length of each track allows the band to fully define the esthetic aspects presented in each song.

Although every track on "Eternal Kingdom" can be enjoyed singularly, the album is meant for comprehensive consumption. "Eternal Kingdom" is a concept album relating directly to an eerie experience Cult of Luna once had. While moving to a new practice space, the group discovered a journal, which came from a mental institution that once existed where the group practiced. The owner of the journal had been institutionalized for drowning his wife. His journal, titled "Tales from the Eternal Kingdom," contained fantastic tales of owl and tree men and the fictional UgÌn. The man came up with this bizarre yarn as a way to explain his innocence or possibly as a means to cope.

The phantasmagorical tale Cult of Luna experienced was obviously one of a dark psyche, so the music created on "Eternal Kingdom" is quite cerebral. Cult of Luna moves at a slow to medium pace, inserting various samples and synth sound to create surreal atmospheres. Each song undergoes grand momentum shifts. Light passages of single chords and soft percussion precede or follow crushing, mammoth-sized riffs. Loud parts consisting of three guitars colliding in a thick mass give way to minimalistic percussion and electronics, which really helps the group illustrate the rise and fall of the story's action.

My taste for Neurosis' type material waxes and wanes. I prefer the ambient side this style that groups of this ilk sometimes offer. "Eternal Kingdom" is one of the better showing by groups of this type. Cult of Luna's vividly makes use of ambient elements on "Eternal Kingdom." The contrary nature of their music, vibrant atmospheres and intriguing lyrical concept makes for an intelligent, thought provoking album.