Cult of Luna (SE)

About

Few bands make heavy music feel as vast and immersive as Cult of Luna. The Umeå, Sweden group has spent years crafting a dense, atmospheric take on post metal that draws comparisons to Neurosis and Isis, though their sound moves freely through sludge, doom, drone, and post rock. Their 2004 album Salvation was the turning point that brought them wider attention, followed closely by Somewhere Along the Highway in 2006. After a quieter stretch, they returned with Vertikal in 2013, a record built around the visual and industrial world of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Their 2016 collaborative album Mariner, made with American vocalist Julie Christmas, pushed them in a more spacious, cosmic direction and stands as one of the more distinctive heavy records of that decade. They followed it up with a full live film and album document of that project. More recently, The Raging River arrived in early 2021, showing the band still very much at work and refusing to stay in one sonic corner.