Metalcatto
We keep approaching the top. As with any Cult of Luna album, that means a huge amount of drama, tension, and long sections. You’ll probably disagree with me, but isn’t that the whole point?
4. Vertikal: This one has a special place in my dark heart. It was the album that got me into Post-Metal (I’ve gotta thank the wife for that!). The idea of taking a classic like Metropolis and giving it a godless, machinery-like style in a more realistic setting was nothing but brilliant. This is probably CofL at its best when it comes to embodying a concept. Anyone can play complex music, anyone can make something fun, but only a true artist can turn sound into an aesthetic vision.
3. Salvation: I’ve heard many times that Salvation is a perfect album, and in many ways it is. Though I enjoy some of its individual tracks more than others, as a whole, it’s probably the most balanced CofL album. There are sections in Salvation that really make you feel like the world is falling apart—like everything is reaching a boiling point, and then boom. Everything is gone. How can something be so brutal and yet so beautiful? You’ll have to find out if you haven’t yet.
2. Mariner: I know. This is a collaboration with Julie Christmas, who is also giving the performance of a lifetime here. Space was CofL‘s final frontier. If Alien had an ultra-realistic and diabolical soundtrack, this would be it. Yet there are moments of absolute songwriting genius here. Plus the album has “Cygnus,” which is probably CofL‘s most epic song. The album requires patience, but it’s a masterclass in how to give your Metal layers of emotional depth. What hurts me is how criminally underrated it is.
1. Somewhere Along the Highway: Was this a surprise? The first CofL show I ever saw was the 10th anniversary performance of this album. It changed how I saw Metal as an art form. Metal could portray the vast lands of Norrland and at the same time touch into the most excruciating solitude. In our era of loneliness, this album was conceptually decades ahead of its time. Tracks such as “Finland,” “Dim,” “Dark City, Dead Man”—they’re all so infinitely devastating. Every track here slays. Somewhere showed me that we have nothing to envy from “high culture.” That our little Metalsphere can deliver just as much depth and beauty.
Metal Eclipse Reviews 