Cult Of Luna – Vertikal

With the years, my crescent cynicism has lead me to Doom music frequencies. Minor scales and low tones resonates within me with overly indulgence, they speak the sentimental feel from this age and my own generational sunset. The omen in our apparent normality and the secret wish of apocalipse in our modern culture. Our end.

So the point is this Cult Of Luna facts these things out very precisely in this album. Surprisingly.

This is Doom music out of the mould, expressive till the point of spiritual conmotion, exposes a concept of dystopia and failure human condition both musically and lyrically. Yes, this album deserves the reputation of epic bombastic in the way that classic progressive rock used to be whenever it tried to be conceptual, name it King Crimson's "in the court of..." state of the world, Pink Floyds "The wall" individual alienation and Orwellian nightmare or Aphrodites Child "666" prefigured apocalypse.

Only the music language changes here. Theres an evident post hardcore feel in this but without the agressive pulse or overly melancholic melodrama, just pure minimalistic progression with a bleak but golden monochrome background.

Whenever the album grabs the Doom elements it throws its vibrant bass lines, but they are out of the current expected tendency to blues or sludge feel, they are more close to jazz excursions and hardcore texture, only subtly violent, mesmerizing within solid rhythms and interesting transformations. Tracks melt into each other, becoming just a sole one excursion unnoticed thrpugh this foreign bleak land of brave new world robots happy in their delusional living dream.

The guitar gives the sentiment and the ideas to the visceral bass lines, not colors but deepness and the atmosphere is granted by the synths and sequences. Crazy results, but very organic and vivid, it shows a meticulous work, one of almost obsession and pain, that particularity is also very patent in this work.

The work is heavy as fuck, but in its very own way, its subtlety to deliver equal portions of raw melancholy, force, despair, even an apparent sense of hope is very recognizable in the form of the music and this is their maximum achievement. I applauded while listening "vicarious redemption", couldnt resist the need to do so, that's what good music does, resonates in you. Shakens the grounds of your self. Makes your own humanity recognize the dimension of expression.

By the way, and talking about expression, vocalist said he was very into German expressionism when thinking about this album, Metropolis then comes to mind. Yeah, could be a soundtrack for it.

Vertikal is Doom with soul and meaning, depth and feeling, not music for the masses. Not music for this age, although, paradoxically, made in this age.

Not sure if it's the same for everyone's, but I've got my pre-order from the European store today and the track-listing on the back is wrong. Disharmonia and Mute Departure are mixed up up.