Cult Of Luna: With delicious rhythmic and sonic density.

The Long Road North is the new album from Cult Of Luna and as always the band explore some new and refreshing sonic territory. The band deliver splendid and very good rhythmic and Johannes Persson wild vocal and layers of guitar are very intriguing. The Swede have as always lots of sonic density and various and dynamic soundscapes.

Destroyerofjudas states  «Very few bands can claim to have constantly put out top-notch releases their entire career. CUlt Of Luna ​can (and this is coming from someone who dislikes a lot of band  of bands people love). Always pushing their envelope a little further with each release to remain fresh. The Long Road North is yet again another top-notch release. Favorite track: Into The Night».

In 1998 Cult Of Luna was formed in Sweden by Johannes Persson (guitar) and Klas Rydberg (vocals). They were joined soon after by Magnus Lindberg (drums), Erik Olofsson (guitar) and Fredrik Renström (bass). After a short period of time, Fredrik Renström left because of personal difficulties.

After rehearsing and recording a two-track demo in 1999, the band decided an additional member was required on electronics to round out their sound. Drummer Magnus Lindberg had the experience and equipment so he assumed that role and Marco Hilden took his place behind the drum kit. New bassist Axel Stattin was also added to the line-up.

In 2003 Cult Of Luna was signed to UK label Rage Of Achilles and released their self-titled debut album. Cult Of Luna then signed a record deal with Earache Records and recorded their 2003 sophomore and Stattin left the band and Andreas Johansson joined in on bass. The band toured Europe in support of the album and then endured more line-up changes, with drummer Marco Hilden being replaced by Thomas Hedlund, and Anders Teglund being permanently added on keyboards. Magnus Lindberg took care of percussion and additional guitar parts.

After extensively touring, Cult Of Luna entered the studio to record their third album. In 2004 Salvation was released and the band went on tour to support the new album. This tour saw the addition of Fredrik Kihlberg on percussion and clean vocals. The live line-up also underwent a change because Thomas Hedlund couldn’t participate because of other commitments and Magnus Lindberg took over live drumming chores.

Cult Of Luna`s songs are often long, slow, repetitive and crushing, heavy sections of distorted guitars often interspersed with orchestral interludes or extended, post-rock-esque forays. They shun conventional song structures, opting for a sound that evolves throughout a song, sometimes toward a climactic crescendo, instead of a verse-chorus-verse pattern. That style, incorporating sections of ‘light and dark’ into their music, has led to comparisons with contemporaries such as Isis, Callisto and Pelican, as well as the significantly older Neurosis.

In 2006 Cult Of Luna released their critically acclaimed fourth album Somewhere Along The Highway. And in 2008 the band flowed it up with the lease of their fifth full-length album Eternal Kingdom.

The rest is history but Cult Of Luna is a well-respected and awesome splendid band with this album and EP and singles:

Fire Was Born    Video    2009      

Eviga riket           Video    2010      

Live at the Scala Live album          2010      

Vertikal Full-length          2013      

Vertikal II             EP           2013      

Eternal Music     Compilation        2014      

Råångest             Split       2015      

Mariner                Collaboration     2016      

Vertikal + II         Compilation        2016      

Live at Roadburn (2013) Live album          2017      

Live at La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris      Live album          2017      

Somewhere Along the Highway – Live at Roadburn (2016)               Live album          2017      

Years in a Day    Compilation        2017      

Mariner Live at De Kreun – Belgium          Live album          2018      

The Silent Man  Single    2019      

Lay Your Head to Rest    Single    2019      

A Dawn to Fear Full-length          2019      

The Raging River               EP           2021      

The Long Road North      Full-length          2022      

Indeed an hard working and serious band with huge piles of very good songs.

1. Cold Burn (9:41)

2. The Silver Arc (7:37)

3. Beyond I (3:07)

4. An Offering To The Wild (12:43)

5. Into The Night (6:58)

6. Full Moon (3:06)

7. The Long Road North (10:04)

8. Blood Upon Stone (11:39)

9. Beyond II (4:06)

Total Time 69:01

Line-up:

Johannes Persson: Guitars, Vocals

Andreas Johansson: Bass

Thomas Hedlund: Drums & Percussion

Fredrik Kihlberg: Guitars, Vocals

Kristian Karlsson: Keyboards, Vocals

   With

Mariam Wallentin: Vocals (3)

Colin Stetson: Saxophones & Flute (4, 9)

Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz (Phoenix): Guitars (8)

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