THE BEYOND

Cult of Luna's The Beyond takes a lot from the early Isis music. It's thick, heavy doom metal, and it stays that way for a long time. OK, we see some dynamics here and there, but for the vast majority of this disc, we are dealt astoundingly heavy music. And, possibly more astounding than the sheer heaviness is that this album is 74 minutes long! That is just too much, guys. Music like this is just not enough to sustain the listner for so much time. It's good music, and certainly better than Cult of Luna's doom metal peers, but I'm sure we can all agree that they didn't get it all together on this one. With their next release, however, the band shows huge growth as musicians and composers, and that's really where you should turn your attention. Fans of doom metal, look no further, or maybe a little further but not too much. Fans of awesome music, look at the next two albums.

Cult of Luna's The Beyond doesn't deviate much from the pattern laid out on their debut: they play brutal hardcore doom, or 'sludge' as some clever brain once coined it. Heavily inspired (or rather copied) from Neurosis, it's a scene frequented by many bands in the 00's, but next to Isis, there's not much I would recommend, but CoL sure gave it their very best.

The band really went for it on this album succeeded now at what they tried to do on the debut. It's hard to pinpoint why but the intensity of the performance is quite remarkable. They lay down a huge wall of sound and the quality is high throughout, both in the dissonant riffing and in the heavy tread of the rhythm. A couple of laid-back post-rockisms provide an occasional resting point but mostly this album is in constant attack mode. It has a ridiculous length though. 75 minutes of this morose heaviness is simply too much.

Cult Of Luna have made an important step from sounding like a bunch of kids playing soldiers to the crushing war machine on this second album. They won't inspire me any time soon to endless flows of grandiloquent praise but with The Beyond they sure had a top quality album in their niche market. 3.5 stars

'The Beyond' - Cult Of Luna (5/10)

In a time before acclaimed post-metal act Cult of Luna found their sound and calling with a more progressive approach, the band was known for their work with sludge. With a primal and hardcore edge to them, their self-titled debut and this, 'The Beyond' deliver quite a different side to the act than one can hear with the more atmospheric work. Soaked in heaviness and a side order of anger to go, Cult Of Luna's second album does get the sense of sheer heaviness and mood across, but it is sparse in detail and nuances, and coupled with its highly repetitive nature, the album can wear quite thin.

At seventy-four minutes in length, even a truly excellent album would begin to lose its grip on the listener, saving the exception of a perfect masterpiece. 'The Beyond' unfortunately does not have the variety or dynamic to warrant such a length, and it is its length which ironically becomes its greatest weakness. While the heavy drone and holler of the music here has its place and at times can be quite powerful, there is very little noticeable change between tracks; most compositions here usually entail repetitive chord progressions, sludgy riffs, mid-tempo drums and deep growls. Were the album cut down to forty minutes of its greatest ideas and musical concepts, the end result would have still been similar in sound and theme, but much more effective at doing so.

Occasionally, the band breaks its sound down into more subtle and mellow atmospheric rock sections, and this is where most of the best ideas on 'The Beyond' are hiding out. While many riffs here are nearly indistinguishable from each other in their relatively uniform speed, tone and process, the more mellow parts see the band experimenting a bit with harmonies and musical counterpoints, giving a nice hint of what would be heard a couple of years later from Cult of Luna.

While the tracks here generally sound the same save for a short introductory track and interlude, some songs are more consistent and powerful with their use of musical ideas. Chief among this would be the track 'Deliverence', which employs some more complex chords and progressions that also hint at future efforts by the band. Unfortunately, why the latter half does ultimately turn out to be better than the first, by that point in the album, the sludgy, droning and heavy sound has already worn out its welcome.

There is a scarcity of nuances in 'The Beyond' which does make it an album that lacks the longevity of Cult of Luna's masterpieces, but for a listener aching for a cathartic hour of noisy, heavy turbulence in the form of metal music, 'The Beyond' may serve as a fleeting remedy.

5/10

An Average Transitional Album.

Swedish Sludge Metal band Cult Of Luna release their second album, "The Beyond", in 2003, two years after the band's debut. Little however seems to have blossomed quality-wise: the band's style hasn't changed its ways, but some influences, such as Post-Hardcore and Metalcore, are a little less felt. Also a better production, and a greater focus on arranging the songs more ambitiously, are clearly a top priority. "the Beyond" is overall a step forward towards a more mature and developed sound (which will be acquired with 2004's "Salvation"), as the band clearly goes towards a more Progressive-related sound, with longer songs, greater relevance to slower moments, and interesting electronic/ambient sounds. The step forward is admirable and unquestionable, but the album itself lacks a lot of memorable material, furthermore, it drags on for an inappropriately long time (almost 75 minutes), and the sense of boredom might catch up on the listener more than a few times throughout.

"The Beyond" is the second full-length studio album by Swedish sludge/post-metal act Cult of Luna. The album was released through Earache Records in February 2003. It´s the successor to the eponymously titled debut album from 2001 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Axel Stattin has been replaced by Andreas Johansson.

Stylistically the material on the album is a continuation of the crushingly heavy post-hardcore/sludge/post-metal style, which Cult of Luna initiated on their debut album. "The Beyond" is generally a more varied and adventurous release than the predecessor, but the core style is pretty much the same. Neurosis is a valid reference but when the band are most heavy and darkly groovy I´m predominantly reminded of fellow Swede post-hardcore act Breach.

"The Beyond" is a very long album featuring 10 tracks and a total playing time of 74:56 minutes, but it´s an album which doesn´t overstay its welcome. Cult of Luna are clever composers who understand that variation and effectful memorable moments are necessary for a listener to sit through a 75 minutes long album. The tracks vary between crushingly heavy post-hardcore sections with aggressive shouting vocals, to mellow slow building post-rock/metal sections, to atmospheric epic sections. "The Beyond" is in many ways a long musical journey and to get the best out of it, you´ll have to completely surrender to it.

The album is well produced featuring a powerful, detailed, and heavy sound production, which suits the material well. The band are a well playing unit too and upon conclusion "The Beyond" is a good quality release from Cult of Luna. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).