CULT OF LUNA – THE LONG ROAD NORTH

With “The Long Road North”, CULT OF LUNA has completed a trilogy that started with the previous album “A Dawn To Fear” as well as “The Raging River” EP (which includes one of the last contributions of the recently deceased MARK LANEGAN) started.

Starting with the powerful opening “Cold Burn” that crushes it all, CULT OF LUNA celebrates its own voice, which, as always, oscillates between grand epic gestures and moments of silence. Long songs especially work well in this context, because the band can take time to fully develop. On the other hand, shorter pieces, like ‘Full Moon’ or two parts ‘Beyond’ (with guest appearances from Mary WALLENTIN and COLIN STETSON), undulate quite softly and thus degenerate into somewhat meaningless breaks. Midway through the album, the melody (slightly reminiscent of TIAMAT) “Into The Night” stands out favorably, given that the band also works outside of their very narrow confines on this song.

In general, “The Long Road North” has once again become a typical CULT OF LUNA disc that fully meets all expectations. The Swedes have just found a place of their own and probably won’t be leaving anytime soon.