CULT OF LUNA YEARS IN A DAY review

I came to the realization recently that I'm one of those people that knows the music of Cult of Luna by melody and not necessarily by song title.  I'm okay with that, though.  I've covered the first two songs on the DVD, released April 21.  Let's pay a visit to the rest of the performance.  I'll include each track in the order listed per the DVD and Spotify, plus some random thoughts about each one.

We now return you to....."Years in a Day".

I swear to you, half way through this experience, I was convinced the technician who choreographed the stage lights had somehow tapped into my subconscious and was taking notes on what colors and angles felt perfect for each aspect of this show.  Okay, not really, but having played it through once without watching it then watching it, I found myself saying "oh wow, that's exactly where my brain wanted to go with that sound" rather frequently.  Trippy to say the least.

"Owlwood"  Here lies one of my go to songs for those times that I want to detach from reality.  Bottom to top it is power, plain and simple, even when the wall of sound is dialed back a bit at the end.  The bass lines vibrate deep into your brain and your chest.

"Echoes"  I love the intro to it.  It sort of reminds me of concrete poetry.  The guitar work hits your ear much like an echo that richochets off the walls of an immense canyon.  On that note, the song itself feels like a slow glide through the waves of a secluded river.  Throughout it, you can't help but wonder if your tranquil river ride is a build up to something much much bigger.  Then they hit you with huge, soul shaking chords and an addictive cadence of drum beats that pull you through to that moment the stage lights go out.

"I: The Weapon"  Thank you very much for the sonic ass kicking.  The complexity of sound here is something that lesser bands can't pull off.  It's tough for me to put this one into words.  Wow.  Just wow....and for the record, just once in my life, I want to spend an hour playing with all the toys surrounding that keyboard.

"Waiting For You"  I love the shift in intensity about three minutes in.  I also love that the lighting tech is really on the same visual page as me.

"Marching to the Heartbeats" I feel like I'm flying over a desert and toward the end I emerge from the intermittent cloud cover to see golden sands below and blue sky above.

"Finland"  There's a punctuated, almost tribal quality to the drums in parts of this song.  It's the sort of stuff I would've gotten in trouble for during school because I had a bad habit of playing whatever drum beat was in my head on my desk.  This is one I would certainly have been playing a ton.  Then they go and slow it down on us, LOL

"Back to Chapel town"  I love the slower start and the gradual increase in power. (note to self: this happens alot with CoL)

"And With Her Came the Birds"  The guitar effects are absolutely perfect for the atmosphere that this song conveys.  The vocals lull me into this dreamy state that I really don't see fit to wake up from......I can think of one other vocalist who can lull me like that, and he's Swedish, too.....hmmmmm.

"Thirtyfour" This is a different one for me.  On the surface, the lyrics read of loss.  The music itself takes me to a place I cannot identify, but that isn't a bad thing.  In a sense it frees the mind to attach whatever interpretation seems comfortable.

"Dim" In my head, this is the soundtrack to driving through the desolate streets of an alien city, knowing what once was, as the lyrics state "where do I turn when all hope is lost?"

"Dark City, Dead Man"  The flashing red lights at the beginning are sort of my favorite thing right now.  It sounds like a heart beat and it looks as such.  More than just being the last song of the performance, this song feels like closing the door on old memories, good and bad, but clinging desperately to the subject of those memories, even as the images fade.

Everything that Cult of Luna plays is gloriously well constructed.  It draws you in and carries you away with a soul shaking wall of sound.  I've always said there are some bands that make music to be experienced, not just piped through your ipod.  Cult of Luna is one of them.  This is music to get lost in and debate heavily the merits of coming back.  I think I'd be content to stay lost in the sounds.

Cult of Luna's "Years in a Day"....released April 21.

You need this album.

Just take my word for it.

You won't regret it.

Later kids,