Salvation

Post-metal is not an easy genre to get into. Not because the music's too complex or dynamic but rather the contrary: it can seem a little too simple and repetitive in your initial stages of listening experience. The term itself is kind of vague and if you tend to discover the row of slightly renowned to obscure bands playing this style of music, you'll often notice that these mammoth and endless compositions, which form the base of post-metal, are mixed with another style from an established genre within metal or a multitude of other rock influences. This is to impart a sound that's described as "soundscapes" by the niche community. Of course, when you have a nearly endless canvas to base your many influences on, the possibilities of varied soundcapes are in abundance. Renowned bands like Agalloch find favour in primarily using mild black metal and folk influences whereas Cult of Luna, very much a titan of the genre by now, explores the heavier, much more in-your-face elements of sludge metal. The average song and album lengths are generally pretty long; anything between 7-14 minutes for the former and nothing short of an hour for the latter, which can seem kind of intimidating even before you've given the music any chance. So it's a pretty niche genre, more so than prog and even black metal, which suddenly starts seeming super-mainstream on account of all the media attention it gets. Personally, I love this style of music - there's a certain allure to these vast soundscapes and their embodying of a musical journey, like prog but serious and less flashy. I wouldn’t say I listen to a ton of these post-metal bands but absolutely adore beholding the most popular ones like Agalloch, Cult of Luna, ISIS and Neurosis; guess I can make good use of the Similar Artists section on Metallum to become a post-metal freak and satiate my hunger...

My introduction to the genre was actually through Agalloch's masterful The Mantle but I wouldn’t say it's sonically very similar to Cult of Luna's Salvation, even though the musical formula is arguably along similar lines. And Agalloch's a bit easier to get into because of the obvious atmospheric traits and the ample use of cellos and keyboards and acoustic guitars for added dramatic effect. In comparison, Salvation seems devoid of all these frivolities and is rather a huge, monolithic slab of an album comprising of some of the densest and heaviest riffs you'll listen to. It's atmospheric aplenty but of a completely different kind - there aren't any mesmerising, snow-clad sceneries to imagine or a flurry of trickling snowflakes. Rather, it's a vast open space of absolute greyness and nothingness, a very bleak and desolate setting that seems to deprive you of all joy and, to an extent, hope. This feeling is especially intensified by the selected use of keyboards and tranquilising guitar melodies playing beneath the main riffs. The sound is reliant on guitars and equally as much on drums, which sound soft and warm, reminiscent of jazz, but can quickly transition into maniacal percussive explosions on a whim. Seriously, Thomas Hedlund is one of the best modern-day metal drummers in my opinion. His expressive style, jazz-inspired minimalism and voracious endeavors to smash things apart when the music calls for it is deft, structured and wonderfully controlled. His drumming performance on Waiting for You is arguably the finest moment on the album for me; that song is the sonical definition of heart-wrenching sorrow and the drums, majorly, lend it that vibe. I could somehow never get those patterns out of my head even when I was not well-acquainted with the rest of the album and everything sounded like an unimpeachable wall of sound.

Despair starts reigning triumphant the more you delve into this album and its defining characteristics. It makes good use of extended instrumental sections, which can meander and hypnotise for a good few minutes before anything substantial happens - case in point here being the opener and its slow, melancholic intro that develops a hypnotic and evocative sound, like a recall to memories of the past and therefore aptly fitting the song title Echoes. The ensuing heavier sections can seem almost out of place at first and catch you off-guard, because they're a bit too heavy, but that's about the only time you are left startled. This paradigm shift in sound feels as though it has reached its peak, like the mutation or transformation of an anime or comic book character with exaggerated muscles and all. The album does well to capitalise, and thrive on, these elements. The somber sections and the heavier ones offer a stark contrast in dynamics but come together in a tightly-knit, organic way. As I said before, it's heavily atmospheric with expansive and repetitive compositions, so everything's drawn out and barely any section feels abrupt or half-cooked as can be the case with other forms of metal. I particularly like those sections where the drums have a slow, warbling effect and then build towards a crescendo of intense energy bursts that then carry the rest of the songs. In these short bursts, you experience sheer sonic violence in that medley of guitars, drums, and bass; the thumping old-school guitar riffage overlaid with thick and nasty bass and pounding drums is quite a lot of fun, and feels absolutely in tune with the crushing sensations provided by this album.

I'm a huge fan of the production, too. It's loud and brash but also expressive and crystal clear about everything that's happening between your ears. The bass is strongly evident, sounds overpowering and remains thick and groovy. These nasty basslines double the hammering effect of the hefty and crunchy guitars. However, for all that in-your-face pounding and brazen sound of the latter, there's also a strong feeling of desolation emanating from those chords. Staring all that desolation in the face, surprisingly, are the somewhat joyous and uplifting moments sporadically experienced here and there; the second halves of Vague Illusions and Leave Me Here sound oddly uplifting and seem incongruous to the rest of the setting but you quickly get on terms with it and relish this scant slimmer of hope in the great, cold nothingness that is this album. If there’s one thing that I'm not a big fan of, it’s the vocals. In fact, I haven't ever been a fan of anybody's vocals in this band. I think they're serviceable and sound quite alright, not outright insufferable or stupidly hilarious, but they're a bit too gruff for my liking, as though sung by someone who's dealing with a bad case of prolonged sore throat. I mean, it's kind of preposterous in the first place to expect amazing vocals when majority of them constitute screaming and shouting but I've experienced much better stuff from the likes of Jon Nödtveidt or David Vincent and Cult of Luna, in that regard, has always seemed underwhelming.

The thing about post-metal is that you need good time and patience to completely sink your teeth into the sound. The compositions aren’t challenging per se but they are very long and most often, quite repetitive; every section is dragged longer than you might anticipate, so in spite of a footprint that's long and anywhere between 7-14 minutes, it might seem like nothing’s really happening and the songs aren't getting anywhere. And if you're able to maintain your unwavering attention for those 60 odd minutes, the progress might seem rather slow and ponderous. I think that's a justified take and initial impressions are not going to be super-favourable. But that's not to say the song structures aren't dynamic or original. Nearly every song is composed such that it swells and dwindles for the better part and grants you ample moments of trance and mood shifts, but everything happens imperceptibly and bit by bit. Conserve your patience and try to understand the intent behind the sound and you're rewarded sumptuously by this distinctive genre and its strapping grit; there truly isn't anything that sounds like post-metal or comes close to match the sensations provided by it. Conceivably speaking, you can attribute a certain quality to almost every metal genre that defines the core of its sound, like black metal's evil, doom metal's eccentric, thrash metal's angry... Likewise, I'd say post-metal's just very vast and bleak. You find yourself at the epicenter of all this bleakness, a rather surreal yet strange and empty feeling.

I think Cult of Luna possesses one of the best and most consistent discographies in modern-day metal and Salvation is their breakthrough album that's admired big-time by the fanbase. But everything eventually boils down to this one simple conclusion: you either like this album or you don't, and there's reasons galore as to why you would choose one option over the other. I personally feel spellbounded by this majestic album and this music in general and if I'd to make a choice, I would easily choose this over angry death or thrash metal. These all-consuming soundscapes suck me into their grasp and bestow an odd respite and comfort despite all the palpably depressing tendencies. Along with Katatonia's Brave Murder Day, I listened to it the most at the peak of COVID-19 pandemic when nearly everything started getting humdrum and monotonous after a fresh few (and kind of exciting) initial months of quarantine. It proved to be a wonderful and cosy escape then and made me feel transported to a different dimension altogether. I still get that impression almost half a decade later. Yes, I agree that it doesn't give itself up easily, and it's too long and the vocals aren't nice, but once you are able to breach that dense wall of sound, you'll feel happy about the fact that you gave it a chance. I'd heartily recommend it to everyone who's new to this wonderful genre and wants to explore it. Just be prepared for some really exhausting and uneventful first few listens.