Cult of Luna – The Long Road North (2022)

Cult of Luna by the time of this release had already established themselves as one of the “big three” of Post Metal alongside legendary bands Isis and Neurosis. They are known for their consistency and forward thinking approach. For me, they had already been a part of two of my favorite albums of all time, with Vertikal and Mariner (alongside American vocalist Julie Christmas). But their previous albums were no slouch either.

Following those two albums couldn’t have been easy, and I may have been tough on reviewing the follow up, 2019’s A Dawn to Fear and the companion EP, 2021’s The Raging River, which both did grow on me with repeated listens. But sometimes the biggest problem with ambient types of music is that it can get lost in the ambience, and forget about the song at its core. This is not the case with the shorter songs with clean vocals the band has every release for some time now, but some of the longer songs that have great riffs, but ultimately sound very similar.

Following quickly after those two releases, I hoped that this one would have a little more diversity, and while that’s not exactly what I found, I did connect with it a bit faster than with the previous two releases.

First and foremost, the album name, track listing, and album art are quintessential Cult of Luna atmosphere, so much so that you can’t believe it already hadn’t happened. For a band who has traveled musically and lyrically through countryside, cities, and even space, a journey through snow and barren lands is the perfect setting for their cold, dark, moody feel.

“Cold Burn” opens the album much like “The Silent Man” did for A Dawn to Fear and “Three Bridges” for The Raging River. It’s a driving song with brief melodic moments. But what they brilliantly do here is lull you into a false sense of security. When “The Silver Arc” comes in right after with a similar sense of urgency, you think it’s gonna be more of the same. But when it’s beautiful droning middle section complete with a bright bass tone you would hear on a record by The Cure or Tool appears, it hypnotizes you.

“Beyond I” the first surprise of the album comes at the perfect time. I shouldn’t say surprise since soft songs on their album are becoming expected, as well as guest vocalists, but they are what I look forward to since they provide so much needed contrast. Mariam Wallentin’s voice is haunting on this keyboard driven track with no drums. It reminds me of AA Williams, especially on her split with Mono. The band intelligently follow this up with the slow building “An Offering to the Wind”. With the tension and atmosphere of a Western film, the flow of the album starts to take shape, with its peaks and valleys mimicking the very landscape it describes.

After it’s epic climax, the album brings itself down again with the ballad “Into the Night”. Whereas “Beyond I” was more electronic and industrial driven, this one continues the country and western feel the band started on the previous track. It starts slow and brooding, building half way in to a full band ballad, with very unusual chord progressions. It reminds me of Radiohead almost, due to a mellotron keyboard tone, and a crooning vocal style. It is a different style for the band. Very ambient, and it shows their continued confidence in the variety of clean vocals. And while the sporadic appearances on these track listings don’t signify a complete change, this middle dip of forward thinking songs bookended by the heavier, driving tracks is what gives this album its wonderful and consistent flow.

Continuing with this thought process, the band does not just randomly pick it back up with immediate heaviness and urgency. They slowly build it up once more time with the short instrumental “Full Moon”, a beautiful blend of the country and western feel of the last two songs, with the electronic/industrial keyboard heavy tones of “Beyond I” all mixed together. The subtle changes of tone yet constant flashbacks to past themes gives this album cohesion, and flows perfect into “The Long Road Home”, which starts with some incredible slide guitar work.

Eventually the title track brings that intensity felt on the first two songs. The band really take their time on this album, in the best possible way. The title track is filled with fantastic dynamics and the production really shines on this one as you hear layering that simultaneously make you think of the cityscapes of Vertikal, the space of Mariner, and the countryside of Somewhere Along the Highway. Aside from obvious post metal references, bands and projects like Agalloch, NIN, Author and Punisher also come to mind.

“Blood Upon the Stone” the last real song and second longest song, acts as an epic closer, and doesn’t take as long as “An Offering to the Wild” to get going. Using the momentum from the previous track, it gets right into it. The extended middle section with delayed guitars, consistent drumming and subtle keyboard tones turns into an explosion of dissonant and post rock goodness. The vocals return over a repeated melody a builds to an incredible climax worthy of finishing off this group of songs. But Cult of Luna don’t leave you hanging.

The album officially closes with “Beyond II”, which is an ambient piece of drone, classical, and industrial, all mixed together. It was created alongside Colin Stetson who also helped provide soundscapes on “An Offering to the Wild”. Normally I’m not the biggest fan of instrumental ambient noise closing out an album. But after such a massive track and complete journey, I can see the need for it here. It eventually fades out, and leaves you ready to re-experience it all.

It’s always hard for a band to live up to a fan favorite. And while Cult of Luna might be in the fortunate position to not have one distinct one, they have certainly created a mountain for themselves to climb over on each new release. But the band gives off the impression that they don’t care… in the sense that they have nothing to prove, and aren’t making albums for anyone in particular. They do what they want to. Some aspects of that are new, some are what they do best. But they’re not going to completely change over night for new fans, nor are they going to stay the same for the old ones. And each new release has something new to give, but it will always sound like Cult of Luna. It’s up to you how much you want to invest in finding the differences. But don’t expect to write it off entirely as just another new album by them.

Pain of Salvation – Panther (2020)

This album came over a year ago. So why am I just talking about it now? Maybe it was because a recent conversation reminded me that I had not done so yet. Maybe it was because I wanted to write about something but was struggling with what to write about. Maybe it’s because a year later, this album’s brilliance shines brighter as the world trudges along through another year of the pandemic, and the feeling of isolation grows.

Whatever reason, I’ll try to keep my gushing of this album brief. There are many great reviews of it, so I hope this one is unique.

Pain of Salvation has always been a Prog band in the true sense of the word. Where other “Prog” bands find a groove and stick to it, Daniel and company love to keep us guessing. From rock opera’s, to acoustic albums, the 70s blues rock worship, and back to the Prog metal that made them famous, Daniel wears his love for Mike Patton as he traverses different styles, musically and vocally.

Panther conceptually fits this theme, an album about the outcasts of the world. Those who take the road less traveled. A metaphor for the band themselves, while perfectly coming during the COVID lockdown. Musically, it’s darker, heavier, and almost industrial style gave that “noir city” vibe, or as we like to say in my band, “coldly calculated”.

The first song “Accelerator” lives up to its name. A driving syncopated rhythm, with the timing of Meshuggah, the warm guitar and drum tones from the Road Salt albums, and a nostalgic keyboard tone from 90s R+B, with just enough catchiness in the vocals. “Unfuture” is a groovier track with industrial and bluesy elements, conjuring up the heavy moments of Remedy Lane, Be, and Scarsick. Its “welcome to the new world” hook is sure to get stuck in your brain.

“Restless Boy” starts off as an trip hop like song, complete with vocoder style vocals. It’s chill groove lulls you in so it’s second half catches you completely off guard. The syncopated Meshuggah like rhythms of the first song return, this time of steroids. It is one of the craziest moments for a band who has made a career of interesting transitions.

“Wait” is the beautiful ballad we know to expect for POS, and yet catches us off guard every time. combining the theatrical elements of Be, the classic rock/folk sound of Road Salt, and the pure emotion of their previous album, it is lush, gorgeous, perfect.

“Keen to a Fault” is an interesting combination of late 70s and 80s electronic keyboard tones with some ferocious fingerpicking on an acoustic guitar. Interestingly the feelings of isolation Daniel described in the hospital room on their previous release feels similar to these lyrics of feeling isolated in the world. Songs like this one as well as “Wait” could very well have fit on it, and some songs from In the Passing Light of Day could have fit well here.

I say that with no disrespect to either album. They are both brilliant in their own ways.

“Fur” is a short instrumental interlude that provides some necessary breathing room before one of the album highlights, the title track. The track that embraces Daniel’s rap/hip hop style the most since the Scarsick album, these songs are always controversial in the POS fanbase. I personally think it’s brilliant, with lots of groove, attitude, and a simple chorus perfect for singing along to.

“Species” is a very simple song, but in doing so, really showcases a perfect blend of past Pain of Salvations combined. The anger of Scarsick. The classic rock feel of Road Salt. The melodic tendencies of their early albums. It shows a band aware of the past, not afraid to say what they have to say, and continuing to push on. I wouldn’t even say it’s one of their best songs, but that’s how good this band is if this is a weaker track on the album.

The album finishes with a epic that acts similarly as the closer of their previous album. When Prog fans see long songs, we expect to hear as many notes crammed in as possible. When POS has long songs, they usually have the opposite effect. They take their time, and provide some beautiful and introspective moments. After a piano melody and a deceptive heavy riff, it comes back down for a soft verse and chorus. It teases breaking out into chaos many times, but never loses sight of its few simple melodies. This provides an excellent guitar solo, something that seems to be rarer on their albums, so that the band can deliver their best ones rather than their flashiest.

Daniel’s soulful delivery towards the end of the song is nothing short of spectacular. It will please the old school fans of the band and give them lots of nostalgia. The band have become masters of looking back and foreword at the same time. Always evolving but never losing themselves completely. Panther is another stellar release from a band who may have briefly isolated their fan base from Be to Falling Home. But they gladly came back to prove that they never lost their heaviness, experimental tendencies, but most of all their songwriting abilities. This album is a joy to return to, and makes me so excited for what comes next.

Pain of Salvation – Falling Home

– 8/10

-Admittedly, I thought this was going to score lower, like the Junius EP or the new Wolves in the Throne Room album did. After 3 years without music, an album of previous songs was the last thing I wanted to hear about. However; We are talking about Pain of Salvation, a band that has been able to reinvent themselves over and over again (although most people would rather call them The Daniel Show since he has been the only consistent member for the band’s 20+ years). From the get go, we can tell this is going to be an interesting endeavor, with a very jazzy rendition of “Stress” from their first album. Throughout the album, the vocals are the high point over the musicianship, and this is not at all a bad thing. I consider Daniel one of the best singers with a wide range and emotional depth. On this album, the backup vocals and lush harmonies have the ability to hold their own on renditions of “Linoleum” and “To the Shoreline”. Track 4 brings us a smooth jazz/reggae version of the heavy metal classic “Holy Diver”, which might offend a heavy metal fan, but is done very tongue in check and makes for an enjoyable listen. The second half of the album was more surprising to me, since songs like “1979” seemed to stay very true to the original and “Chain Sling” has already been done acoustically on 12:5. The second half was full of songs from Scarsick which is one of my favorite albums by them, even though most Pain of Salvation fans do not feel the same way. I really enjoyed hearing acoustic renditions of songs like “Spitfall”, “Flame to the Moth”, and “Mrs. Modern Mother Mary”. In addition to this, the album also has a cover of “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed (I have never considered myself a Lou Reed fan, but I’ve always considered this one of his better songs) and the album ends with the only new song on the album, titled “Falling Home”. All in all, this turns out to be an enjoyable experience and I was very pleased with the outcome. However, I still anxiously await to see what direction Pain of Salvation has up their sleeve after so many musical changes (especially after the two Road Salt album which had a more classic rock feel than metal).