Release
date: April 8th 2016. Label: Indie Recordings. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl
Mariner
– Tracklisting
1.
A Greater Call 08:19
2.
Chevron 08:54
3.
The Wreck of S.S. Needle 09:34
4.
Approaching Transition 12:59
5.
Cygnus 14:50
Line
Up:
Julie
Christmas - Vocals
Cult
of Luna
Magnus
Líndberg - Drums
Johannes
Persson - Guitars, Vocals
Andreas
Johansson - Bass
Thomas
Hedlund - Drums, Percussion
Fredrik
Kihlberg - Guitars, Vocals
Kristian
Karlsson - Keyboards, Vocals
Review:
When
it was announced that Cult Of Luna would be making an album with
Julie Christmas, it was met with fevered anticipation amongst fans of
both artists and despite the fact that sometimes when a project is
that hyped up due to the artists involved or what an artist has done
in the past, then it can at times be a bit of a letdown, the music
not living up to the initial hype but this is in no way the case with
Mariner and has to rank as the best work that both Cult Of Luna and
Julie Christmas have been involved with.
This
is music that can only be described as thoroughly immersive and the
mixture of Christmas' at times beautiful and at others abrasive
vocals with the massive and inspiring soundscapes of Cult Of Luna is
a match made in musical heaven and throughout the albums five vast
tracks this is proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Cult
Of Luna prove again on Mariner that they are one of the finest bands
on the planet and their musical ability is unquestionable while Julie
Christmas is as you would expect extremely impressive on this album
and proves what an outstanding singer she is and the impeccable range
of her voice is in full force here and having been a fan of hers
since her work with Battle Of Mice and subsequently checked out all
her other work, each time I hear an album of hers, I am always in awe
of her singing and her performance on Mariner has to be the best
thing she has ever done such is the delivery of her passionate vocals
and the matching of her vocals with Cult Of Luna vocalist Joahannes
Persson is pretty much perfect, these vocal encounters on tracks such
as A Greater Call and album closer Cygnus are as good as it gets. The
fervour and feeling as Cygnus drives forward is truly a joy to listen
to and is as passionate as music gets with both vocalists putting
every inch of their heart and soul into it.
The
whole album will have you listening in awe, particularly songs like
Approaching Transition and The Wreck Of S.S Needle which are as epic
in their outlook as they are in their execution and demonstrate the
scope of this magnificent project excellently.
Mariner
is not an album that you can just dip in and out with, you need to
take the time to properly immerse yourself in it and you will find
that the music will consume you from the first listen onwards.
It
is an album that is cathartic as well as achingly beautiful. Truly
heavy as well as melodic and melancholic. Music this special doesn't
come along all that often so this is an album that needs to be fully
embraced and come the end of the year, something even more special
will have to come along to top this in order to rate as the album of
2016, it's that good. An epic masterpiece.
Words
by Gavin Brown
Thanks
to Andy at Palmer Turner Overdrive PR for the promo. Mariner will be
available to buy on CD/DD from 1st
April 2016 via Indie Recordings.
Links:
