Cult Of Luna "Somewhere Along the Highway" (Earache)
By Lucas Salg
Tuesday. Jun 27, 2:21 PM
Alternately promising and frustrating: the sound of a band in transit.

Swedish metal outfit Cult Of Luna have come a long way in a short time. Their first two records were decent, but ultimately indistinguishable from their peers. There were moments of depth exhibited on 2003's The Beyond, but nothing that would suggest the massive artistic growth they displayed on 2004's Salvation. A gripping, emotional, expertly-produced record with amazing songwriting and conceptual unity, Salvation was not only a great metal record, but a great record, period. It set the bar incredibly high for the eventual follow-up. Would The band pull a Radiohead and weird out? Would they play it safe and put out Salvation II? Would they take their atmospheric metal to yet another level?

All of the above. Alternately promising and frustrating, brilliant and disappointing, forward-thinking and water-treading, Somewhere Along the Highway is the unmistakable sound of a band in transit. Cult Of Luna are extremely talented, but too often on this record they don't know what to do with that talent. It's a schizophrenic record that wants to push boundaries but doesn't quite know what boundaries to push. It's got big ideas, as did its predecessor, but where Salvation was totally cohesive and obviously well-thought out from top to bottom, Somewhere Along the Highway is ultimately too unfocused to make an impact.

Which is not to say that Cult Of Luna have made a bad record. On the contrary, there are songs and fractions of songs throughout the record that showcase them at the top of their game. "Finland" is a terrific track that encompasses all facets of their sound while pushing the envelope. Crushing walls of guitar that let little ribbons of melody shine through, unique percussion arrangements and flourishes like urgently strummed mandolin and keyboard accents combine to absolutely thrilling effect. It's 11 minutes of amazing rock music, and arguably the best song in their catalog. "Back to Chapel Town" and "Thirtyfour" are standard-issue Cult Of Luna, but done to perfection, playing to all their strengths and never outstaying their welcome. Magnus Lindberg's awesome production again is their secret weapon: it's more raw and live-sounding here than on Salvation, but still inventive and classy.

If only the rest of the album could reach those lofty heights. Opener "Marching to the Heartbeats" is little more than an intro to "Finland," grafting listless clean vocals to guitar squalls that never really quite form a melody. Clean vocals appear quite frequently throughout the album, but they're formless and frequently mumbled, unlike the haunting melodies that graced Salvation's standouts. They become merely another layer of sound, but not a useful one. "Dim" is a slowburn scorcher whose first minutes are thoroughly marred by completely out-of-place keyboard blurts, obviously thrown in just to shake up the trademark Cult Of Luna sound. And the record is stopped dead in its tracks on "And With Her Came the Birds," a pointless, excruciating country-noir excursion. Again, melody-devoid clean vocals and aimless guitars sit restless atop barely-there wire brush drums, going slowly nowhere over the course of six minutes. I get that Cult Of Luna want to be more than a metal band, but you've got to have a clear direction in mind. Experimentation for experimentation's sake might be necessary for them to grow, but it doesn't make for a great listen.

If I'm sounding unduly harsh, it's only because this terrific band have a lot to live up to. Almost anything would suffer by comparison to the amazing Salvation, and suffer Somewhere Along the Highway most certainly does. Cult Of Luna are still a great band, and this album contains some really breathtaking work. But it is definitely a transitional record, and not their strongest batch of material. Approach with caution.
www.cultofluna.com
www.earache.com

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Lucas Salg

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