Consistency. A topic often times talked about in musical realms. The flow of this conversation will differ greatly whether you like or dislike bands that remain similar or experiment. I lean towards the latter as many bands tend to become stale very easily coughs Slayer but then again experimentation can lead to disasters coughs Norwegian Shining so it's a tricky slope to traverse. One name however, always successfully navigated these precarious slopes - Cult Of Luna. In these realms they're an institution and one of my all time favorite bands so each new release by them is a big deal.
What makes them so special to me is their clear grasp on things that makes post-metal, a highly repetitive subgenre, work. Understanding tension, providing slight adjustments when needed and providing a cohesive atmospheric background are key ingredients and the Swedes always excelled at that, at times more but when looked as a whole, they haven't released a subpar release since arguably 2001.
However, their eight record A Dawn To Fear initially left me underwhelmed, partially because it followed up a masterpiece (Mariner) and me listening to it for the first time after breaking my elbow hahaha. That was an interesting night let me tell ya.
Anyhow, when the smoke cleared, I jumped back in and eventually it clicked, it clicked hard. Last year's surprise EP The Raging River on the other hand, I wasn't as thrilled with so I wondered. Was their insane 18 year long streak of bangers coming to an end? Was I delusional from the get go? I had to know! And so I did. Time to set the stage for our subject.
The Long Road North is the latest addition to their pantheon and like each of their releases, it evokes a setting. Over the years I've been led through decrepit woods, abandoned roads, towering industrial complexes, barren wastelands, cold expanses of space and now finally, the distant north.
Things start off suddenly and on a dramatic note with invisible horns blaring above us as we find ourselves alone, scared and freezing in the middle of nowhere. Johannes Persson spells out the situation with his vicious growls: "The cold burns like salt in a wound."
We do not know what brought us here or where we're headed but one thing is clear, the circumstances are dire.
Describing Cult Of Luna's music as cinematic was always viable but never as much as with The Long Road North. No matter how things sounds, there's always this momentum pushing us deeper into darkness. "The Silver Arc" provides temporary illumination but to no avail as there's still a feeling of dread lingering in the frosty air. And then "Beyond I" arrives like an ill omen. Something calls out to us, a female voice. It cuts through the howling winds and every time our eyes close, a slim figure appears. Was it loss that's guiding us further up north or is it something else?
We continue marching on and life around us stars to disappear. The howls and hoots that once scared us now lay silent and with their absence, we become terrified and start thinking grim. After all, with civilization as a distant memory and none to hear our blood-curling screams for help, maybe it's time to give in and offer ourselves to the wilderness... Perhaps our fate has been sealed from the get go and you're just wasting time. Do it! Embrace the beyond. Nobody will remember you anyways. Just lay down, close your eyes and let the cold north do the rest.
No! It won't end like this and you know it. Keep on moving and go bravely into the night.
A voice once again appears, the memories this time are almost overwhelming. A face dissolving into rain, a hand vanishing, a river ending. Tears start flowing and pain re-emerges, on top of our skin burning under glacial air . Yet the human spirit can find strength in most unlikely of moments and places. And then we see it, the full moon. It's beautiful, so pure. Distant too and with not a single soul to witness it alongside us. Is this what awaits our species? A faint laughter of the gods amused by our chosen way of self-destruction? Or cold indifference by a world that was never ours to begin with?
Our initially frantic pace has become a trudge, like our legs are chained with pure ice. The end looms and its face is grinning.
Emotions flood us, each frozen rock we see feels like home but in another cruel twist of irony, during this moment of pensiveness, a storm strikes. Vortex comprised from pieces of ice fly past us and it only took one to snap us out. A cough. Blood. It freezes as it drips from your frail body. An icy inferno is raging through you, the pain is getting unbearable. Tears fail to form as they turn into a frozen pathway from your eyes. The end is nigh and this time you're certain. Can't even cry. Yet you keep moving, crawling even, pitiful really. Why is that? Do it. Die. You did that to her and you alone and no amount of penance will reverse that what has been set in stone.
Be a man for once in your pathetic existence. All your life you hid behind your insecurities and vices. Your true lover? A bottle so don't act like you're sorry. Keep telling yourself it was an accident but deep down you know you're full of shit. What's that? Hearing her cry and beg for her life? Seeing her face disolve? That cabin? You worm, remember:
"There is no place where you can run, Out here you will die alone"
Ah yes there we go. Hah, would you look at that, your little star, it's... fading! Finally. Now go into the great Beyond, this time for good. You deserved far less.
In your last moments of consciousness, you attempt finding salvation only to realize that it will never occur and all your sins will follow you to your grave.
At long last you're home, in the deep north. In a few minutes time, your body and the long road you journeyed through will cease to exist as it will drown beneath the cold, eternal sheath of white.
The Long Road North was released through Red Creek Recordings and Metal Blade Records on February 11th of 2022.
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