Cult of Luna - "Salvation"
(Earache MOSH283CD)
Cult of Luna - "Salvation"
(Earache MOSH283CD)
From Aural Innovations #29 (October 2004)
Cult of Luna hail from Umeå, Sweden. This is the follow up to the bands 2003 CD, The Beyond. The 7 piece band includes dual guitars, vocals, bass, drums, keyboard and sound engineering. The CD opens with the 11 minute "Echoes" track that slowly builds and sets the vibe for the whole CD. While I don’t care for this style of Death Metal singing, where you can’t really understand anything that is said, others like it. As the songs are all quite long journeys, the vocals never dominate too much and therefore I can enjoy this. A vocalist like Robert Lowe (Solitude Aeternus) would sound incredible with this band. A lot of the music is pretty damn doomy. "Vague Visions", another 9 minute track, is a bit haunting and highlighted by excellent drumming. "Leave Me Here" features guest vocalist Tiger Lou on the harmonies. I really like the guitar on this track. "Waiting For You" is very slow to start and creates the mood in this mostly instrumental number. It has a great semi-psychedelic guitar jam at the end. This is the best song on the CD. "White Cell" sounds very tortured. The CD closes with "Into The Beyond", a great piece with cool moody piano playing. While the band are on Earache records (known for much heavier stuff than this) this is a cool, dreamy, doomy trip and one worth taking!
For more information you can visit the Cult of Luna web site at: http://www.cultofluna.com.
Reviewed by Scott Heller