Review Summary: Two artists from similar yet different worlds come together to take listeners on a celestial journey.
When I first heard that Cult of Luna's newest album would be a collaboration with a female vocalist, I was disconcerted to say the least. No, I'm not an elitist who thinks that metal is only for the boys, I simply couldn't imagine how a female's vocals would mesh with the band's sound, especially since they've never been a vocally driven band. I was also unfamiliar with Julie Christmas at that time, so I explored her previous bands, Battle of Mice and Made Out of Babies, as well as some of her solo material. Certain songs were definitely interesting, but others were really hit-or-miss for me. I just couldn't hear it in my head. But having been a huge Cult of Luna fan for years, I held out hope that the group would deliver the goods and they did not let me down.
2006's Somewhere Along the Highway was the first CoL album to center around a particular theme, and every album since then has followed suit. SATH and Eternal Kingdom were characterized by rural sounds and themes of loneliness, while Vertikal focused on a more futuristic, industrialized sound. Carrying on with this tradition, CoL sought to explore the theme of space exploration by utilizing more keys than the band has ever before and playing aluminum neck EGC guitars to produce a more metallic sound. Lyrically, the album tells a story of mariners who leave their home planet in search of something more.
Beginning with moody lo-fi keys and softly played drums and guitar, the album is already drenched heavily with atmosphere which fans have come to associate Cult of Luna with. In an interview with Johannes Persson, the frontman stated that the intro is meant to embody "the nervous walk up to some kind of a space vessel." After a few minutes of emotional build-up, the rest of the band comes in full post-metal style as the ship blasts off; and so begins our journey. Persson releases his relentless screams - "We leave upward toward new dreams. A new hope. An odyssey." - while Christmas sings angelically in contrast - "We are not conquerors. We float with the tide." Neither the listeners nor the narrators seem to know where the ship is headed, as the protagonists blast gallantly into the endless vacuum of space.
The opening track proves to be a worthy collaborative effort, but by the end I'm hungry for more of Julie. What else does she have to offer the music? We soon find out with "Chevron," in which Julie immediately commands her role as frontwoman. Her voice is more than just an apparatus for melodies, but also a tool for creating unique and intriguing timbres. She transitions seamlessly between soft tones, harsh screams, and everything in between, at times bringing manic energy to the music along with child-like voices. By the end of track two I'm feeling heavily invested in the album. Having always been a fan of keyboards in metal, I'm heavily drawn to the spacey, ethereal sounds which newcomer Kristian Karlsson creates. Karlsson replaced original CoL keyboardist Anders Teglund after he quietly left the band in 2013. Interested to hear what Karlsson can bring to the CoL sound, I can say that I'm already impressed with his contributions. He knows when and where to throw in keys, and does so in a manner that plays incredibly well with the space-themed album.
Julie goes on to be the sole singer in the third track "The Wreck of S.S. Needle" which is arguably my favorite song on the album. This is her most stunning performance, proving that she's more than capable of fronting a band of this caliber. We then proceed to the fourth song, "Approaching Transition." This one is entirely devoid of Julie and is a predominantly somber song featuring guitarist Fredrik Kihlberg on clean vocals. As the song progresses, it builds into a doomy ending with Persson's heavy screams. While the song is by no means a bad one, I feel that it was unwise to exclude Julie. Every time I listen to the song, I imagine how it would sound if Julie were the one singing or even if she and Kihlberg sang as a duet. Nevertheless, the song is enjoyable in and of itself and stands alone from others on the album.
We then reach the end of the journey with "Cygnus." The verse is dominated by Persson's screams and a thunderously heavy riff reminiscent of "Dark City, Dead Man." He and Julie take the reigns in separate sections throughout the song before coming together for a triumphantly epic conclusion. Every member of the group provides thoughtful contributions to the album. The bass knows when to ride the root note to add depth to the guitars and when to harmonize. Drummer Thomas Hedlund once again provides a remarkable performance, adding unique polyrhythms that drive the music and makes it all the more interesting.
Being a more vocally driven album, the band employs less post-rock style buildups and focuses more on the sludge aspects. This makes the album unique to their discography without straying too far from the signature Cult of Luna sound. My biggest complaint is the relatively short duration - their first album ever to fall under an hour length - coupled with the absence of Julie in "Approaching Transition." (I mean, this is a collaboration, right?) Nevertheless, Cult of Luna has managed to create yet another incredible album that stands out from their previous efforts as they prove once again that they are gods among the post-metal genre.
