Cult Of Luna’s newest offering, ’Vertikal II’, is four tracks long and comes in past the half hour mark. Given that, I’m hopefully of hearing some interesting, moving music.
For the last three minutes I’ve been listening to second track ’Light Chaser’ – a painfully repetitive riff, some sci-fi sound effects, and a bit of scratchy vocals cut with the occasional impression of that dude from Disturbed. At the end of a painful six and a half minutes I’m a little more sure that robots are invading and a little less sure that the AH editors aren’t trying to bore me into submission. Sadly, this isn’t my first listen to ‘Vertikal II’, so my hopes aren’t exactly high for anything fresh to happen in the next twenty odd minutes. It doesn’t.
Somehow, ’Light Chaser’ is even less of a grabber than opener ’O R O’, which at least has some softer vocals and a little more movement musically but, all in all, it’s another long drag to the end. I feel like I’ve put a 45rpm vinyl on 33 by mistake. Unfortunately, there isn’t a button I can press to make the tracks sound better.
These songs that make this record were written around the same time as those that made up the Cult Of Luna’s last album, ‘Vertikal’. There’s a very dull, incomplete edge to all of them, suggesting that perhaps these are castoffs the band didn’t see quite fit to let go completely. ‘Shun The Mask’ is better; in parts it almost sounds deliberate rather than the result of stretched tape in the studio. But still it feels excessively long, as though the band are trying to make a point about something. Although I’m not entirely sure what that point might be.
The best song on this record, is a remix ’Vicarious Redemption (Justin K. Broadrick remix)’. It still feels like nine minutes of watching the credits to a film you didn’t really enjoy and the end arrives as if by surprise to remind you that you were at one point listening to something. The problem with Cult Of Luna is that you could be listening to any number of post rock bands, they only way you know you’re not is because they’re simply not as good as the others.
2/5
‘Vertikal II’ by Cult Of Luna is released 17 of September on Density Records.
Cult of Luna links: Facebook|Twitter
Words by Thomas Knott (@nounandthenouns)
