CULT OF LUNA — The Beyond (review)

CULT OF LUNA — The Beyond album cover Album · 2003 · Atmospheric Sludge Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
Conor Fynes
'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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Rot Stink Rip Death Metal
TOMBSTONER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Human Rosin Melodic Metalcore
HATE BREEDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Through The Hell Hardcore Punk
ENEMY 906
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lightmatter: Rebirth Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Eye Of Horus (Lightmatter EP Pt. 2) Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Agremorta - Adrocitas (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 4 days ago
Agremorta - Ploratus Umbra (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 4 days ago
Agremorta - Vertex Membrana (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 4 days ago
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR - The Temple Of Curved Space (Official Track Stream)
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR
adg211288· 5 days ago
In Sulfur - The Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) 2022
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 5 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed