Year: 2022
Total Time: 1:09:01
Label: Metal Blade
Unfortunately, this presentation of the new album of the Swedes coincided with the death of Mark Lanegan, an emblematic form of alternative sound that adorned several times with his presence the concert domestic events, having even collaborated with them in the EP “Raging Fear” of 2021 interpreting the song “Inside of a dream” with the characteristic voice of “Blue as the sea and the veil so torn, one story ends another is born”.
The Swedes have been productive in the recent years, releasing excellent work in addition to the aforementioned “The Raging Fear” and “A Dawn to Fear” in 2019 as well as -in my personal opinion- the masterpiece “The Mariner”, a collaboration with Julie Christmas and that has its explanation. One of the two founding members of the band, Johannes Persson, moved, after 15 years in Stockholm, to Umeo, very close to the Arctic Circle, which brought them closer to “jamming” more often with their physical presence, managing to work hard on an individual level, a descendant of the Covid 19 pandemic. In this way, their productivity increased as they seem to write more with their heart, letting their instinct guide them, letting the usual guests also contribute to the sound of “The Long Road North”.
Since I mentioned the guests at “The Long Road North”, CULT OF LUNA always managed to let them leave their mark and not just to interpret or perform professionally. Here they invited the award-winning jazz musician and singer Mariam Wallentin to perform with her fragile and wounded voice, accompanying the noir piano in “Beyond (I)” and the saxophonist Colin Stetson (permanent collaborator of ARCADE FIRE and BON IVER among others) to put avant garde touches with the alto saxophone and flute in “Beyond (II)” and “An Offering To The Wild”. In “Blood Upon Stone” they invited the guitarists Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz from the indie rockers PHOENIX and they gave a lesson on how you can combine sludge passages and post alternations.
The “Long Road North” on the one hand refers to the top “Mariner”, on the other hand is presented as a landmark that one must reach to be able to continue the inner journey of search, inspired by the nature and colors of the Arctic Circle, painting in lyrical canvas. The truth is that there are some slight similarities with “Raging Fear” as if some incomplete ideas that are left over continue, but this does not seem at all annoying. The balance between calm and intensity, dynamics and inertia is evident and the complexity of the subjects has been mitigated, giving way to a more cinematic, traveling (not carefree, but more task-oriented) approach as there is an aesthetic utilization of the overwhelming weight and of the most post moments of the middle period of the band.
“Silver Arc” is a characteristic piece, with the guitars roaring loudly like the wind raging on the snowy peaks, the screams haunting but also the dense structure and texture of the song, at the same time that the long-winded “An Offering To The Wild » is typically built in the way that CULT OF LUNA can end up with the guitar crescent and the avant aesthetics of the wind instruments.
While it seems that most bands of the genre soften over time, CULT OF LUNA have found the path that allows them to balance between the wild dynamics of the first years of the band with the constant shaping of their sound and the dark, stifling atmosphere, in “Long Road North” they balanced the light with the gloomy darkness adding this intense cinematic element. I would not recommend it for driving in difficult conditions, I think it is best enjoyed at home in the rain and cold to make their presence felt in the windows. Although early for 2022, however I have the feeling that CULT OF LUNA has released a very strong and intense album that will occupy us all year round.
Rating: 8/10
Editor: Dimos Karadimos
Related Link: CULT OF LUNA – Official Page
