So, I read in the news that Cult of Luna is going to release Vertikal II, and I sudden realized I never wrote that review for Vertikal.

Maybe it’s because the album is so good, that it does not need praise. Maybe it’s because somehow I fell in some kind of enchantment, and I was hypnotized by the music, so I never realized how long time has passed. Maybe it’s just because every time I want to write about something I like, words simply don’t come.

I must admit I have a crush on Swedish rock bands, there is something about them that I’ve never completely understand. They are easily, the best in doing metal all over the world, and yet they have time to experiment with other kind of sounds.

Vertikal is a good example of that. It’s a journey through long instrumental compositions and energetic short songs, that keeps you in a sort of bipolar mood.

I learned that it is a conceptual album somehow inspired by Fritz Lang‘s Metropolis, and it makes sense. The album is scattered with mechanical and industrial sounds, and possesses the kind of somber energy one would hope to find in a world full of grayness, factories and endless machines.

There are a couple of tracks that trapped me:

‘Passing trough’: leaves you waiting, it feeds the anxiety feeling, leaves you with the need to burst, to erupt, to begin… The video matches perfectly the dark atmosphere of the song.

‘I, the weapon’: my favorite track from the album, and I must say I would love to be that melodic, intense, brutal weapon.

Now I’m looking forward to hear Vertikal II, in order to stay trapped and hypnotized until I can finally see them performing live. I bet that must be awesome.

Words: Claudia Ramírez

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