I did a fair share of travelling for the past ten or so days, thanks to which I managed to attend two extremely important shows for two nights in a row, back to back. It took me several days to process this information and to gather my thoughts, but now I'm finally ready to share my impressions with you. Buckle up!
Pustervik was the place hosting the show that night and it is a venue that I've grown quite fond of, not only because of its physical excellence, but also because I have already seen some amazing bands there, like "Neurosis" for example. It is located at one of my favorite spots in Gothenburg and the building always lures my eyes to take a peek whenever I'm passing by. Once you enter, you're greeted with a long bar and a slight curve around the corner leading you into a huge gig hall with yet another bar, merch desk and a spacious stage. Every time I visited the club was packed with people, yet despite the high numbers there always seemed to be just enough room for everyone to hang out without a hassle. All this is backed up by superb sound quality. In all honesty, I don't think I've ever visited a venue with such crisp acoustics, literally every band I heard there seemed like you're listening to them directly in the recording studio.
Pustervik was the place hosting the show that night and it is a venue that I've grown quite fond of, not only because of its physical excellence, but also because I have already seen some amazing bands there, like "Neurosis" for example. It is located at one of my favorite spots in Gothenburg and the building always lures my eyes to take a peek whenever I'm passing by. Once you enter, you're greeted with a long bar and a slight curve around the corner leading you into a huge gig hall with yet another bar, merch desk and a spacious stage. Every time I visited the club was packed with people, yet despite the high numbers there always seemed to be just enough room for everyone to hang out without a hassle. All this is backed up by superb sound quality. In all honesty, I don't think I've ever visited a venue with such crisp acoustics, literally every band I heard there seemed like you're listening to them directly in the recording studio.
"This Gift Is A Curse" opened the show and I managed to grandiosely miss them. I literally walked in on their last song at the moment when they were wrapping it up. This made me so sad and irritated, since the concert tickets stated that the doors were opening at 19:00 and the show starts at 20:00. I was at the venue at eight sharp and the first band was already closing?! I've been burned by the organizers like this a number of times now, guess I need to finally learn my lesson.
The first band from my perspective that evening was "Brutus", a trio from Belgium which formed back in 2013. Even though they have quite some years under their belt along with 2 albums and numerous live performances, their music somehow managed to stay away from my radar, so I actually discovered them thanks to this show. As soon as I saw their name on the line-up I checked them out and the initial song I listened to was "War", the live version from Rain City. The song got my head swinging and my eyebrow raising from being impressed, so I was like "ALRIGHT, this will be great live". And I was absolutely right, I'll tell you that.
"Brutus" packs a swift and solid punch, swinging between the lines of mellow post-rock and vicious hardcore punk infused with math-like precision. The said line is extremely blurry and most of the times you don't know what comes next, the soundscape ranging between melodic and chaotic, technical and raw, almost dream pop-ish and downright aggressive. Saying this applies not only to the instrumental section, but also to the vocals, as Stefanie (singer/drummer) transforms from sounding like an angel one moment and then like a demon the next. It is absolutely mind blowing to me how anyone could pull off doing both of these all the while playing drums as well, not only creating just any kind of random sound, but coherent, creative and high quality at that!
Truth be told, at certain moments you can hear that their sound forcefully comes to a drastic tempo drop just so that she can manage to inject singing and still keep playing her kit at the same time. Like I said before, I find it extremely impressive that she can pull off both, you truly don't get to see that often, but the sound somehow loses momentum because of it. This is not a flaw, simply a manifestation of a physical limitation which is reflected in the music. Being a project of constant contrasts which manages to bend and weave their sound exceptionally well, I feel like this "limitation" successfully anchors their sound in place, otherwise it would drift off all over the place. Either way, this was a great performance and I'd make another effort to see them live at any given time. Definitely check them out, you can do so on their website here.
The way I usually write reviews is that I just throw down all the things that pop into my head on the subject. A bit of an intro and then I might jump all the way down to the outro, then maybe cover second band, venue, first band, bits and pieces flying all around. Literally every section would get some part of the text until I, in the end, collect it all together and form a cohesive article.
This review I somehow stepped away from that process... or, more honestly, I was blocked from it. I wrote almost the entire thing without writing a single thing about the main band of the evening. As I write this, I still feel the difficulty and the hesitation to get to it. I look below this piece of text at the band name which I usually write down to declare it as their section. "Cult of Luna". It is an intimidating beast blocking my path. I feel compelled to pay respects to this entity before I can descend further down into my thoughts and make sense of all these emotions.
Rewinding the time back some 15+ years into the past, the vast majority of my overall introduction to music was through my older brother. Even though he is just a year older than me, he picked up an interest in music from a young age due to getting into guitar playing as his hobby which naturally led him to pay attention to the music world. Although he landed into punk relatively fast, the range of genres which he was versed in was impressive back then. I was a bit late to the party (although still extremely young at the time), but as soon as he sniffed out my interest in heavier music he took it upon himself to show me as many bands as possible. I'd sit in front of my PC with numbers upon numbers of CDs and burned music and I devoured all of it.
However, some bands managed to slip through the cracks and remain unnoticed for a while. But not for long, not forever. I clearly remember that one faithful evening. A weekend, spending the night home alone, frustrated that a couple of days previously a broken hard drive resulted in me losing all my music. It was time to load up the new one with my desired music so I was digging through my brother's CDs. Several of those were pride possessions, DVDs with scores of bands burned on them. One of those had a peculiar name which I somehow missed before... "Cult of Luna". No album name, no song titles, just numbers 1 through 10. I scoffed at this, being annoyed at the shitty disorganized pirated copy of the album. But then again, the name made me unable to click away and close the folder. "Cult of Luna". It stuck in my mind for a moment, resonating with some strange sensation, a mystifying veil of something unknown, deadly, yet tempting. I pressed play.
A short noise-induced introduction sucked me into their music and the rest absolutely crushed me. Whatever the names of those songs were, the sounds that were coming out of those speakers obliterated me. For more than an hour I sat there, listening to the entirety of the album in one go, periodically moving to increase the volume until the knob just wouldn't budge any further. Again... And again... I listened to all of it several times in a row and I was utterly consumed. This band was such a monster of insane proportions that I was simply not equipped to understand back then. After many hours of listening just to these ten songs, I sat a bit in silence and then went to bed, trying to gather my thoughts and contemplate on what I just experienced and why on Earth did such a behemoth remain hidden from me for so long.
What I know today as the album named "The Beyond" literally changed me. It completely morphed my perception of music and how massive, impactful, atmospheric and purifying it can be. To this day I consider this collection of songs to be absolutely divine and deserving of reverence, in a way self-worthy of its name, and I'm always moved and shook up by listening to it.
However, some bands managed to slip through the cracks and remain unnoticed for a while. But not for long, not forever. I clearly remember that one faithful evening. A weekend, spending the night home alone, frustrated that a couple of days previously a broken hard drive resulted in me losing all my music. It was time to load up the new one with my desired music so I was digging through my brother's CDs. Several of those were pride possessions, DVDs with scores of bands burned on them. One of those had a peculiar name which I somehow missed before... "Cult of Luna". No album name, no song titles, just numbers 1 through 10. I scoffed at this, being annoyed at the shitty disorganized pirated copy of the album. But then again, the name made me unable to click away and close the folder. "Cult of Luna". It stuck in my mind for a moment, resonating with some strange sensation, a mystifying veil of something unknown, deadly, yet tempting. I pressed play.
A short noise-induced introduction sucked me into their music and the rest absolutely crushed me. Whatever the names of those songs were, the sounds that were coming out of those speakers obliterated me. For more than an hour I sat there, listening to the entirety of the album in one go, periodically moving to increase the volume until the knob just wouldn't budge any further. Again... And again... I listened to all of it several times in a row and I was utterly consumed. This band was such a monster of insane proportions that I was simply not equipped to understand back then. After many hours of listening just to these ten songs, I sat a bit in silence and then went to bed, trying to gather my thoughts and contemplate on what I just experienced and why on Earth did such a behemoth remain hidden from me for so long.
What I know today as the album named "The Beyond" literally changed me. It completely morphed my perception of music and how massive, impactful, atmospheric and purifying it can be. To this day I consider this collection of songs to be absolutely divine and deserving of reverence, in a way self-worthy of its name, and I'm always moved and shook up by listening to it.
Now the beast moved away from my path and we may thread ever downward. For those living under a rock, like I did apparently, "Cult of Luna" is a band from Sweden formed way back in 1998 as an epilogue of one other project disbanding. Ever since they hit the scene they have been persistent with an extremely heavy post-metal, sludge-infused sound, which has always been unique and innovative. All these years after their conception they have had a score of releases, collaborations, tours and an overall vast background which any band could be envious of.
The cult assembled that night, seven members on stage and a swarm of followers hungry and waiting. Their tidal wave of sound flooded the venue and I instantly felt the same way I did so many years ago when I first heard their music. 3 guitars, a bass, two drummers and a keyboard, the massiveness of all those sounds is nigh indescribable. Try to imagine the sheer chaos and strength of the tones that so many people can create... the reality is much more grander than you can envision. It is an amalgam of world shattering shock waves which attack all of your senses, created by seven talented musicians playing their instruments with a violent passion. At this point I think it is actually worth noting what the overall setlist looked like:
When the songs are put down on paper like this, it shows the brilliance of this live performance in so many ways. They kicked it off with "The Silent Man", a ten minute epic track from their latest album called "A Dawn To Fear", followed by "Finland", an almost classic "Cult of Luna" song. The former was a superb impact hit, demonstrating the above mentioned massiveness of sound, yet also showing the crispness of the quality despite the chaos. The latter completely sealed the deal, fully showcasing the ability of the band to shape a fascinating atmospheric soundscape by getting close to touching the post-rock genre. I almost forgot how beautiful this song is and they succeeded in nudging me back to it. The show moves onward with "Nightwalkers", a highly aggressive, yet somehow weirdly droning sound, which then morphs into "I: The Weapon", again with a touch of post-rock. "And With Her Came the Birds" stops everyone in their tracks as a perfect middle track, the band dishing out an astounding dark jazz/folk masterpiece.
There was a certain kind of movement within the song selection, a sort of ebb and tide flow corresponding to the Moon. The moods, song tempos, the variance in aggression, it was all swinging constantly. In the end, the show ended with sounds of "The Fall", a truly poetic choice for one last crescendo:
One final note I have to make was that the two sets of drums were an absolute highlight for me. The only other time when I managed to see two drummers play live was open air on Fluff Fest in 2011, listening to "Year Of No Light" (which you can read here) and I was stunned. Here, in a closed space packed with people the impact of the sound was increased a tenfold. My body was constantly vibrating with tremors and it felt like I was being stomped on the chest. If I recall well, this was especially present during "Nightwalkers" and it was magnificent.
The cult assembled that night, seven members on stage and a swarm of followers hungry and waiting. Their tidal wave of sound flooded the venue and I instantly felt the same way I did so many years ago when I first heard their music. 3 guitars, a bass, two drummers and a keyboard, the massiveness of all those sounds is nigh indescribable. Try to imagine the sheer chaos and strength of the tones that so many people can create... the reality is much more grander than you can envision. It is an amalgam of world shattering shock waves which attack all of your senses, created by seven talented musicians playing their instruments with a violent passion. At this point I think it is actually worth noting what the overall setlist looked like:
"The Silent Man"
"Finland"
"Nightwalkers"
"I: The Weapon"
"And With Her Came the Birds"
"Lights on the Hill"
"In Awe Of"
"Passing Through"
"The Fall"
When the songs are put down on paper like this, it shows the brilliance of this live performance in so many ways. They kicked it off with "The Silent Man", a ten minute epic track from their latest album called "A Dawn To Fear", followed by "Finland", an almost classic "Cult of Luna" song. The former was a superb impact hit, demonstrating the above mentioned massiveness of sound, yet also showing the crispness of the quality despite the chaos. The latter completely sealed the deal, fully showcasing the ability of the band to shape a fascinating atmospheric soundscape by getting close to touching the post-rock genre. I almost forgot how beautiful this song is and they succeeded in nudging me back to it. The show moves onward with "Nightwalkers", a highly aggressive, yet somehow weirdly droning sound, which then morphs into "I: The Weapon", again with a touch of post-rock. "And With Her Came the Birds" stops everyone in their tracks as a perfect middle track, the band dishing out an astounding dark jazz/folk masterpiece.
There was a certain kind of movement within the song selection, a sort of ebb and tide flow corresponding to the Moon. The moods, song tempos, the variance in aggression, it was all swinging constantly. In the end, the show ended with sounds of "The Fall", a truly poetic choice for one last crescendo:
"...In the fall came the rain
Flooded the fields
Cleansed what remained
With new eyes she appears
But I am no longer here."
One final note I have to make was that the two sets of drums were an absolute highlight for me. The only other time when I managed to see two drummers play live was open air on Fluff Fest in 2011, listening to "Year Of No Light" (which you can read here) and I was stunned. Here, in a closed space packed with people the impact of the sound was increased a tenfold. My body was constantly vibrating with tremors and it felt like I was being stomped on the chest. If I recall well, this was especially present during "Nightwalkers" and it was magnificent.
There are a lot of words in this review, probably the longest gig report I wrote thus far, but despite having so much to say now I left the concert completely speechless. Truth be told, this was difficult to write since I was so shook up after it. And I still am, as it took me several days to write the part of the text which addressed "Cult of Luna". It was as if I was reliving that night from so many years ago when I first discovered them. I needed silence and time to digest. I've been wanting to see them for years and now that desire has finally been satisfied, expecting a lot but getting so much more. I hope you enjoyed the review!
