A DAWN TO FEAR

7th January: Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear (atmospheric sludge metal, 2019)

Something awoke in me when Mariner came out. I went from honestly never enjoying anything from this band, or if I'm honest most of the entire atmospheric sludge metal genre, to steadily enjoying them more and more as I revisit each album. This one is the first post-Mariner and although it's obviously missing that album's star player, it does contain a pretty captivating mix of dark, riffy metal and atmospheric post bits. It is thunderously long though, and as with much of this genre, there are vast stretches of absolutely nothing, but I do like quite a few of the recurring riffs, and although this is metal blasphemy, the spots of clean vocal are actually the highlights. This still isn't really my thing genre-wise, but it's getting closer to it by the day.

6.1 (2nd listen)

Part of my listening diary from my facebook blog: www.facebook.com/TheExoskeletalJunction