One of my most expected albums for 2013 has got to be the Swedes new album, almost five years after their last one. As I was browsing through their website I bumped into a new song they've made available today.

I'm listening to it as I type and I thought I'd be so kind as to ring a bell about it here on the boards, I hope there are more fans lurking for new stuff by them. Anyway, I can't put my finger on it but the song feels kind of weird and a bit deviated from the band's typical sound. More post-rockish or more post-hardcore perhaps?! I don't know... But it does sound a bit different; calmer, quieter and with different dynamics.

PS: The band put the song on their website today but it seems that it has been available on Soundcloud for almost two weeks now.

That was pretty cool, I see what you mean about the hardcore/post-rock comments. Exited about this for sure. I hope this one is better than Eternal Kingdom, which was pretty good but nowhere close to the two that came before it.

Pretty cool song, Haven't really liked anything else by them, that I have heard. But I think I will be checking this new album out!

Yeah, Eternal Kingdom felt a bit like a step back in some ways. I still like the album but it seemed to have broken a bit of an evolutionary ladder they were climbing, and suddenly there's this throwback to their first couple of albums. I like everything COL made but EK sounded a bit misplaced chronologically. I'm pretty excited about this because I'm going to see them live (again) in less than two months, and my guess is that they'll be playing new stuff live. Makes perfect sense since it's a European tour which is promoting the yet to be released new album.

I just hope that the rest of the album makes more sense and most of all that it is cohesive. There's a 19 minute song in the middle of the album and that is either a good thing or a horrible misstep. We'll see about that.

The beginning sounds quite a bit like later Isis at their most intense. Indeed, this doesn't sound too bad, although the production is again overdone.

The cover art is quite bland in comparison to the one before, but then, Eternal Kingdom was the only one with impressive cover art anyway.

Good track. Just as well Isis split. COL were making them look lame during the last couple of albums.

COL are better live too.

Awesome track. A nice strong riff, with some wicked melodies. I've got high hopes for this album, but Cult Of Luna have yet to let me down with their last few albums.

It sounds great, an excellent song which increases my interest in their new album. By the way, next month they will be playing here, Is it a worthy band to see alive?

I tend to agree on both accounts. Isis were doing a Pelican with their last two albums by going more and more into post-rock territory, although I still find things to enjoy on both of them. About who's better live, COL are more "immersive" for the spectator at the show than Isis. I've seen both of them live and while they were both awesome shows I have to say that COL are more... "immersive". But then again the room where I saw them was an old convent and that was out of this world!


I guess I just answered your question. Great live show!

That sounds pretty damn good! I really like how heavy it is, and I always considered their heavier material to be the best. And I'm not gonna lie, there are moments I love this band even more than I love Neurosis. Did I just say that? Yes I did.

Do it. They are intense, but also rock out hard. Two drummers is really great viewing.

Just found an interview concerning the new album, very interesting reading actually. Here's the link.

And now they've got me even more excited about this!

Great interview, got me really exited for the album. The futuristic city concept seems like an interesting path for them. So the story behind The Eternal Kingdom was a hoax? That sucks, I totally fell for it when I reviewed the album.

Yeah, didn't we all fall for that. The story and concept are still relevant but now we know that it was another of their "manifesto/concept" for writing down an album. It was a really interesting reading because it let's you know a bit of how the band actually works in constructing a new album, and shows that they're pretty much self-aware of the world around them.

I can see the album being a very machinal thing and if it works out it will probably be a beast. I really appreciated the electronic aspects on EK and if they're making it an integral part of the new album then I think we're in for another revamping of their sound. Still one month to see them live, damn it.

I'll be getting it, I have all their albums... why stop now?

So the album has leaked, thank you "now playing" thread.

I have to say that I'm a bit shocked by it though. I'm already halfway into "Mute Departure" and I can't shed this feeling of indifference that I got from the start of it. Some elements feel recycled while others don't seem to gel. Granted I'm just listening to it for the first time but the impression it gives me isn't fabulous. The "machinal" atmosphere is surely felt but sometimes this feels more like listening to early Nadja than COL. Strange album...

Anyone care to pitch in with opinions on it?

I'm waiting untill the actual release, but if the rest is anything like I the weapon, I'll be thoroughly satisfied.

It isn't, and as a review I've read online says that song is probably the highlight of the album. Vertikal is really weird. I don't know how people can't notice the similarity between the first riff of "In Awe Of" and the main riff of "The Watchtower", for instance. The initial segments of some songs seem to not work at all, i.e. the first five minutes in "Vicarious Redemption" or the first three in "Synchronicity".

I don't know... maybe it's the shock of the first impression, but I do have to say that it's the first time I experience this "meh" feeling with COL.

PS: Just and addendum. The closing track is pretty barren of any kind of feelings and it's one of the only six real songs on the album, since the rest is an intro and two interludes.

Hmm.... It sounds like a massive grower (haha no pun intended) If I remember the interview correctely, Johannes Persson is really satisfied with the result. So it doesn't sound like a lack of inspiration or motivation to me. Remember what the members were going for: industrial”, “monotone”, “repetitive”, “harsh”, “grey”

I enjoyed I: The Weapon, but industrial, monotone and grey don't sound like the Cult of Luna I enjoy. I won't judge before hearing it, but this is beginning to look less than satisfying.

Wasn't I who linked that interview?

Even with that in mind the album comes off more as soulless than machinal, if that makes any sense at all. I admit that hearing it for the first time shocked me but I have to repeat the procedure a few times to be sure what this is album really is. I'm working on first impressions alone here.

Ah well, the first time I heard Swallow the Sun - Emerald Forest and the Blackbird, I also found it to be soulless. Now it's in my 2012 top ten I'm keeping my hopes up!

True. Some things just take their time to sink in, not everything is immediate. We'll see how it goes.

Good news everyone!

This album is just a piece of work. It continues to feel strange and alien, even after repeated listens. This is not something I was used to or expecting from a band like COL, and I say again that it was a shock to hear it for the first time. The album grows with added spins though, not in a warm way but in a cold harsh sense of, I don't know, hopelessness?! The use of sound, mainly keyboards and guitars, is made in very different ways and gives more room to sound textures than to crushing riffs. The electronics are very present and give out this grey cold deserted city vibe and the guitars uphold tension and create layers more than anything, although they still have some "lead" presence. Some elements are recognizable here and there from other albums, either in style or some instrumentations, but Vertikal feels like the band is indeed cutting with the past and reaching out for something different, for a reinvention of their sound as the interview stated.

Well, kudos to them then. It's definitely a good album, just how good it is I can't really say yet.

Great song. COL are awesome as always.


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I'm actually surprised at how much i'm liking this after reading some of these posts. I've listened to it about 4 times now, and I like it better than Eternal Kingdom.

Vertikal is good, not sure how good yet, I think it may be as good as The Beyond which I thought would be unsurpassable.

Anyone else hearing Godflesh influences?

Oh yeah!

I don't know why but Nadja always comes to mind whenever "Vicarious Redemption" kicks in, that 5 minute repetition where it barely has any movement always reminds me of them. Or maybe I'm just hearing things where they aren't. The album is radically different from the rest of the band's career but manages to somehow invoke enough mild similarities to sound like COL. It does take a while to digest but it's highly rewarding. The songs absolutely slay live too.

I still think that "Synchronicity" isn't very good though...

I am really starting to like the new album, is any of their other work this good? What I've heard by them previously wasn't close to this interesting from what I recall. And I think the vocals are a lot better on this album.

Got a question. Who handles the harsh vocals now? Johannes? I didn't even notice Rydberg left until the new band pic on the MA page was up.

Johannes has been doing vocals together with Klas and Fredrik for a while know. I guess just Fredrik and Johannes will song from here on. To be honest I was expecting Klas to quit for a while now; I don't know his reasons, but personally I wouldn't have enjoyed being in a band with so little to do.

Johannes does vocals harsh and Fredrik does clean vocals, although some of the backing vocals live are handled by Erik and Anders. They don't do much in that respect but at least live they have some moments where they shout some stuff.

In my opinion there isn't anything like Vertikal in the band's discography. It's pretty much a departure from their usual style, and even though it has some similarities it's stylistically very different.

I checked the MA profile and saw they didn't have the same singer anymore.

To bad I am really starting to like this album, especially "Vicarious Redemption", didn't even realize how long it was before I had heard it sometimes. Great track. I'll probably go back and check out their previous work, but the vocals were something I didn't like earlier, so this kind of clear things up.

Klas isn't credited in Vertikal's booklet, so he actually didn't sing in the album. But in all honesty his tone is almost identical to Johannes', probably just a bit rougher around the edges. Or better put, Johannes has a bit of a cleaner register in his hardcore vocals.