Cult of Luna

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Cult of Luna
Cult of Luna 2009
Cult of Luna 2009
General information
origin Umeå , Sweden
Genre (s) Post metal
founding 1998
Website www.cultofluna.com
Founding members
Johannes Persson
Klas Rydberg
Current occupation
Guitar, vocals
 Johannes Persson
Guitar, vocals
 Fredrik Kihlberg (since 2004)
guitar
 Erik Olofsson (since 1998)
Drums , synthesizers , studio technology
 Magnus Lindberg (since 1998)
Andreas Johansson (since 2002)
Anders Teglund (since 2003)
Thomas Hedlund (since 2003)
former members
singing
 Klas Rydberg (1998-2012)
bass
 Fredrik Renström (1998)
Drums
 Marco Hildén (1999-2002)
bass
 Axel Stattin (1999-2002)

Cult of Luna is a band from Umeå, Sweden . It is one of the most successful representatives of Post-Metal and, along with Neurosis and Isis , is an important reference group for the genre. The band name is derived from a cult in ancient Greece that worshiped the moon (Latin: "Luna") and is supposed to represent the mood of the music.

history

Beginnings (1998 to 2004)

Guitarist Johannes Persson founded Cult of Luna in 1998 together with singer Klas Rydberg after the joint hardcore punk band Eclipse broke up. Both came up with new musical ideas that they were looking for more musicians to realize. After personal talks and a few auditions, the first line-up was the singer Klas Rydberg, guitarist Johannes Persson, drummer Magnus Lindberg, guitarist Erik Olofsson and bassist Fredrik Renström. Renström had to leave the group early due to personal differences.

In January 1999 the group recorded two self-written pieces as a first demo tape , without a permanent bass player . In the weeks that followed, the musicians strived for a more experimental overall sound. Based on these efforts, Lindberg switched to using the keyboard and synthesizer. In his place, Marco Hildén joined as the new drummer. In the same year, Alex Stattin was joined by a new bass player. With this new line-up, the group released their first official release through Trust No One Recordings , a split single with befriended group Switchblade .

The British label Rage of Achilles contacted the band in 2000 after employees of the label saw the group at the Trästock Festival . The label and band agreed to release the self-titled debut album on Rage of Achilles. The album was released on September 14 of the following year and received mostly positive reviews. On March 24, 2002, an additional vinyl single was released on Aaron Turner's label Hydra Head Records . Both publications jointly established the group's first insider tip status at the time. In particular, the success of the debut album moved Earache Records to sign a contract with the group. In July 2002, shortly after her contract with Earache Records, the second studio album The Beyond was recorded at Tonteknik Recording Studios . The label promoted the album, released in February 2003, as Apocalyptic Swedish Noisecore . In reviews, the album was received mostly positively and meanwhile often compared to Neurosis. After the recordings, Stattin left the group and was replaced by Andreas Johansson. In this new formation, shortly after the album was released, the group toured with The Haunted in Sweden and with Isis in Great Britain. After completing both tours, the line-up changed again. Hildén left the group and was replaced by Thomas Hedlund. Lindberg changed his main task again and brought in both percussion and guitar contributions. Further international tours followed. In late summer 2003, Cult of Luna started a European tour with Poison the Well and in December of the same year a UK tour with The Dillinger Escape Plan . In the spring of the following year, songwriting began for the next album. Before the recordings in April 2004, Cult of Luna made further gigs in Sweden and Finland.

First chart successes (2004 to 2008)

The third album Salvation was recorded in three separate sessions. With Salvation , Cult of Luna changed their previously maintained musical and graphic concept. The album was released in October 2004 and some of it has received excellent reviews. After the band had previously been considered one of the many epigones of the post-metal initiators Neurosis, Salvation gave them more independence. In particular, the increase in progressive structures and the greater emphasis on synthesizers and keyboards were highlighted. Other reviewers, on the other hand, criticized the abandonment of the group's previously cultivated sound and described Salvation as boring or unstructured . With the release of the album, Cult of Luna started their first headlining European tour, including performances in Scandinavia and Great Britain. From this tour on, Fredrik Kihlberg joined as a percussionist and singer. In addition, the group's first music video was produced for the piece Leave me Here .

At the beginning of the following year, the group did another European tour, this time with Bleeding Through . This tour was not accompanied by Hedlund, as he put the focus on the live activities of his other music groups ( The Perishers , Autopsy Torment ). In his place, Lindberg took over the drums. The European tour was followed by their first US tour, which the group played half as a support act for Mastodon and half as headliner. Back in Europe, the group performed at some festivals and prepared to work on the fourth studio album. The recordings for Somewhere Along The Highway took place within seven days in November 2005. The album was released in April 2006 and was promoted by another European tour. Somewhere Along The Highway received critical acclaim, and American Decibel magazine named the album the fifth best album of the year. It also became the group's first album to be charted. Somewhere Along The Highway reached number 59 on the Swedish charts. The publications that have since made it into the top 100 of the Swedish charts almost all of the time.

After the European tour, Cult of Luna became quieter for the first time. The band only made a few appearances and only began working on another album in February 2008. The admission process took several months. The album Eternal Kingdom was released in July 2008 as the last studio album for Earache Records and again received positive criticism. The publication has meanwhile been accompanied by another European tour. The following year Cult of Luna embarked on a world tour with performances in Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Russia. Earache Records released a DVD in the same year with the group's three existing music videos, a live video of the performance at La Scala in London on July 1, 2008, and an interview. The DVD was also marketed as a bundle with the album.

Johannes Persson, the last remaining founding member of Cult of Luna

Long break and continued success (2009 to date)

After the end of the world tour, calm returned to the group. It was not until 2012 that the band began further work on a new studio album. In the meantime, the group had only published an audio book. Founding member Rydberg left the band after recording the album Vertical in 2012. At the end of his time with Cult of Luna, he performed with the group in London at the Beyond the Redshift Festival . The European and American tour to release the album was meanwhile already committed without Rydberg. Vertical was published in January 2013 and was widely regarded by critics as one of the group's most significant publications. Another European tour followed in 2014. The following year, the group began with only a few concerts in America, Canada and Sweden and with work on another studio album. For the entire Mariner album , Julie Christmas , former singer of Battle of Mice and Made Out of Babies , was brought in as singer. The Mariner , which was accompanied by another European tour, received mostly positive reviews from critics.

Side projects

Most of the members of the group are also active in other music projects. Among others, the two guitarists Persson and Kihlberg are part of the rock band Khoma , the keyboardist Teglund of the indie band Convoj , the drummer Hedlund part of the indie rock band The Perishers as well as the death metal bands Autopsy Torment and Gormathon and the keyboardist Johansson was part of the melodic death metal band Gates of Ishtar .

style

The music of Cult of Luna is classified as post-metal . Up to and including the album The Beyond , the band was considered a Swedish imitation of the two major American groups of the genre Isis and Neurosis . It was not until the third studio album, Salvation , that the band was certified as becoming increasingly independent in the genre.

According to eclat-mag.de, the sound of Cult of Luna is characterized by “loud / quiet passages, high-pitched guitar solos and slow, heavy break-ins.” According to plattentests.de, “pounding rhythm and a gloomy Doom atmosphere” are the conceptual focus of the Overall sound of the group. In the Ox-Fanzine the one "even for this genre, exemplary monotony" is emphasized as a special characteristic of the group. The quiet passages, especially in guitar playing, are said to have a special proximity to post-rock , which the band wanted to distance themselves from with the release of Eternal Kingdom . The group's guitar playing varies mainly between the post-rock “melancholic guitar melodies” in the quiet passages and “monolithic doom riffs” in the aggressive outbursts. The rhythm is described as "haunting [...]", "always pounding [...]" and "pumping". Since the debut album, the vocals have been kept as alternating vocals between roaring and clear vocals. Since the vertical , the use of the keyboard has moved more into the foreground of the overall sound. The instrument would be kept particularly "cool" and convey an "unusual [...] timbre".

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Somewhere Along the Highway
  SE 59 04/05/2006 (1 week)
Eternal Kingdom
  SE 47 06/26/2008 (1 week)
Vertical
  SE 30th 02/01/2013 (2 weeks)
Mariner (with Julie Christmas )
  CH 76 04/17/2016 (1 week)
  SE 28 04/15/2016 (1 week)
A Dawn to Fear
  DE 11 09/27/2019 (1 week)
  CH 40 09/29/2019 (1 week)

Albums and EPs

year Album details Tracks
2001 Cult of Luna
  • Release date : September 14, 2001
  • Label: Rage of Achilles
  • Format: CD, vinyl
 1. The Revelation Embodied (7:45), 2. Hollow (9:59), 3. Dark Side of the Sun (3:13), 4. Sleep (14:01),
5. To Be Remembered (5: 56), 6. Beyond Fate (8:45), 7. "101" (1:42), 8. The Sacrifice (9:05)
2003 The Beyond 1. Inside Fort Meade (0:44), 2. Receiver (8:08), 3. Genesis (11:36), 4. The Watchtower (6:20), 5. Circle (8:10),
6. Arrival (9:32), 7. Leash (7:48), 8. Clones (2:20), 9. Deliverance (8:47), 10. Further (11:22)
2004 Salvation
  • Release: October 4th, 2004
  • Label: Earache Records
  • Format: CD, vinyl
 1. Echoes (12:30), 2. Vague Illusions (10:14), 3. Leave Me Here (7:15), 4. Waiting for You (10:47),
5. Adrift (7:19), 6. White Cell (5:40), 7. Crossing Over (8:32), 8. Into the Beyond (11:26)
2006 Somewhere Along the Highway
  • Release date: April 24, 2006
  • Label: Earache Records
  • Format: CD, vinyl
 1. Marching to the Heartbeats (3:13), 2. Finland (10:46), 3. Back to Chapel Town (7:09), 4. And with Her Came the Birds (5:58),
5. Thirtyfour (10:00), 6th Dim (11:46), 7th Dark City, Dead Man (15:49)
2008 Eternal Kingdom
  • Release: June 16, 2008
  • Label: Earache Records
  • Format: CD, vinyl
 1. Owlwood (7:39), 2. Eternal Kingdom (6:41), 3. Ghost Trail (11:50), 4. The Lure (Interlude) (2:33), 5. Mire Deep (5:10 ),
6. The Great Migration (6:32), 7. Österbotten (2:19), 8. Curse (6:30), 9. Ugín (2:44), 10. Following Betulas (8:56)
2013 Vertical 1. The One (2:16), 2. I: The Weapon (9:24), 3. Vicarious Redemption (18:51), 4. The Sweep (3:09), 5. Synchronicity (7:13) ,
6. Mute Departure (9:08), 7. Disharmonia (0:45), 8. In Awe Of (9:56), 9. Passing Through (6:03)
2013 Vertical II (EP)
  • Release: May 23, 2014
  • Label: Indie Recordings
  • Format: CD, vinyl
 1. ORO (7:20), 2. Light Chaser (6:22), 3. Shun the Mask (11:58), 4. Vicarious Redemption (remix by Justin Broadrick ) (9:38)
2016 Mariner (with Julie Christmas )
  • Release: April 8th, 2016
  • Label: Indie Recordings
  • Format: CD, vinyl, MP3 download
 1. A Greater Call (8:19), 2. Chevron (8:53), 3. The Wreck of SS Needle (9:33),
4. Approaching Transition (12:59), 5. Cygnus (14:50 )
2019 A Dawn to Fear 1. The Silent Man (10:37), 2. Lay Your Head to Rest (6:24), 3. A Dawn to Fear (8:54), 4. Nightwalkers (10:49),
5. Lights on the Hill (15:08), 6. We Feel the End (7:06), 7. Inland Rain (7:01), 8. The Fall (13:13)


more publishments

  • 2000: Split 7 " with the band Switchblade (Trust No One Recordings)
  • 2001: Cult of Luna (7 " EP ; Hydra Head Records )
  • 2006: Tour-7 "with two cover songs, Bodies ( The Smashing Pumpkins ) and Recluse ( Unbroken )
  • 2009: Fire Was Born (DVD; Earache Records)
  • 2010: Eviga Riket (DVD; book with audio book; self-published )
  • 2014: Eternal Music (album, only as vinyl; Pelagic, released May 23, 2014)
  • 2016: Råångest (split EP with The Old Wind ; Cargo Records )
  • 2016: Vertical + II (12 "compilation with Vertical and Vertical II; Indie Recordings)
  • 2017: Live at Roadburn 2013 (Live album; Indie Recordings)
  • 2017: Somewhere Along the Highway: Live at Roadburn 2016 (Live album; Indie Recordings)
  • 2017: Live at La Gaîté Lyrique: Paris (Live album; Indie Recordings)
  • 2017: Years in a Day (DVD + 2 Live-CDs; Indie Recordings)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sammy O'Hagar: Cult of Luna: Eternal Kingdom. Metal Sucks, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Interview with Johannes Persson on the DVD Fire Was Born
  3. ^ Metalstorm ee: Interview with Erik Olofsson, published June 6, 2006 . (English)
  4. ^ A b Eduardo Rivadavia: Cult of Luna: Biography. Allmusic, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h Cult of Luna. MetalStorm, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  6. ^ Cult of Luna: The Beyond. metal.de, accessed on April 18, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Ned Raggett: Cult of Luna: The Beyond. Allmusic, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  8. Jump up ↑ Throat Dragons: Cult of Luna: The Beyond. Vampster, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  9. ↑ a b Captain Chaos: Cult of Luna: Salvation. Vampster, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  10. ^ A b Stewart Mason: Cult of Luna: Salvation. Allmusic, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  11. ^ Mat Hocking: Cult of Luna: Salvation. Drowned in Sound, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Cult of Luna: Salvation. MetalStorm, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  13. ↑ a b c Chart sources: Sweden / Germany / Switzerland
  14. ↑ Eduardo Rivadavia: Cult of Luna: Eternal Kingdom. Allmusic, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  15. ↑ a b c d e Cult of Luna. Bands in Town, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Joachim Hiller: CULT OF LUNA: Eternal Kingdom / Fire Was Born. OX fanzine, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  17. ↑ Islander: CULT OF LUNA IS GOING TO DISAPPEAR INDEFINITELY. No Clean Singing, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  18. ^ Dean Brown: Cult of Luna: Vertical. Pop Matters, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  19. ^ Doug Moore: Cult of Luna: Mariner. Stereogum, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  20. ^ Marce Rudoletzky: Cult of Luna: Mariner. Metal Hammer. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
  21. ↑ Klaus Porst: Cult of Luna: Mariner. Eclat-mag.de, accessed on April 18, 2016 .
  22. ^ A b c Felix Mildner: Cult of Luna: Mariner. Plattentest.de, accessed on April 18, 2016 .
  23. ↑ Jens Kirsch: CULT OF LUNA: Vertical. OX fanzine, accessed April 18, 2016 .
  24. ^ A b Cult of Luna: Somewhere Along the Highway. Metal.de, accessed on April 18, 2016 .
  25. ↑ Music-Scan.de: Interview with Johannes Persson, published on 17 June 2008
  26. ↑ a b Andreas Schulz: Cult of Luna: vertical. Musikreviews.de, accessed on April 18, 2016 .
  27. ↑ a b gerrit: Cult of Luna: Cult of Luna. Terrorverlag.de, accessed on April 18, 2016 .