Review by Adam M on November 1, 2016.

Cult of Luna performs their take on post-metal yet again with Mariner. The music here is quite addicting in its grooves and gyrations. The riffs are huge and complemented by two vocal styles now. There is the standard Cult of Luna vocalist, but also now the added emphasis of Julie Christmas. She makes these songs sound more eerie. The remainder of the music is atmospheric and manages to sound industrial in nature as well.

The whole ensemble is something intriguing and interesting to listen to. This album is one that gets progressively better as it goes along. The song Cygnus goes through several movements and has a huge crescendo that is spectacular to behold. A number of more minor tracks build up to this moment through the post-metal style that is very encompassing. They have intense moments in them that also build up to a climax. However, it is the final track where everything comes together on this disc. It is there that the potential of the album is finally fulfilled. It’s as if the smaller moments in the other tracks have a purpose and are put to use through the final monster of a song on this album. The music has various moods, but the outlook is fairly bleak and sterile sounding. This has always been the case with Cult of Luna albums and the trend continues here. The music still doesn’t have quite the epic buildup that its predecessor Vertikal had and is a small step down.

Still, with the music of Cult of Luna you can still expect an excellent album that’s completely grand in nature. Mariner is just not quite as memorable of emphatic as the last album. The songs of Cult of Luna are still drenched in feeling and moves along at a fairly slow, yet impactful pace. This music comes recommended for fans of the band.

Rating: 8.5 out 10

Review by Adam M on June 15, 2019.

Germany’s Lunar Shadow have the right combination of sounds to be interesting on this their second full-length The Smokeless Fires. Their style mixes different styles of metal quite effectively. It has a lot of galloping riffs that are similar to Iron Maiden, but then some other sections that recall other bands as well. The result is a vibrant and colorful album that constantly shifts and changes around every corner.

From the first couple of songs alone we can detect a certain amount of bravado that places the album mostly in the traditional metal genre, but the album diverges as well into other genres like folk. The music is smooth and emotive, bringing the best elements of the heavy metal genre to the forefront. The band goes through the typical musings of a heavy metal act even though they add other material to their music. Though accessible, there is enough of an underground flavor to make this a very worthwhile listen. The vocals on the disc are also very nice and elevate the music above other contenders easily.  The guitars are heroic and varied enough to nicely fit into whatever mood the band has in mind. Drums complement the rest of the material as well. The entirety of the instrumental performances is convincing and makes for a great traditional album. 

There really isn’t much to fault with this recording. It does its best at making the traditional genre accessible to a variety of metal listeners. This is one of the best traditional metal albums I’ve heard since Iron Maiden’s last album and carries forth a positive vibe for all to behold. Fans of the genre should get this album without a doubt. Also, fans of interestingly blended genres should find a lot to like with this as well. It combines sounds in a compelling and effective manner.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10