Review by JD on March 7, 2012.

Growing up in Canada on and playing in seedy bars and outdoor beerfests, you could not get away without playing covers of two iconic bands music at least a few times throughout the night. One was AC/DC and the other was Nazareth. If you played in a rock cover band, you needed a few cover songs of both in your set list to be taken even half-heartedly seriously and got paid at the end of the night. Scotland formed and now London based Nazareth is a rock staple.

Even though they had only one monster hit, (and so many minor ones as well)Nazareth was a Hard Rock band with few equals. I have played ‘Hair Of The Dog’ hundreds of times over the years live, and it always has been a blast to play. Now that I am listening to a new album from my formative rock years idols called "The Newz", I am reminded of the joys of Nazareth while waxing poetically about it all.

Songs like the romping riffs of 'Goin’ Loc'o, the AC/DC-ish 'Road Trip' to the rocking blues shuffle of 'Mean Streets' are pure Nazareth gold. Showing that the band still sounds the same, and rocks pretty good, they have not advanced their sound or made radical changes to what they do. But some things don’t have to be changed to still be good, they just have to still be good, and the band still is just that.

I liked the album all the way through. I still am a big hard core metalhead yet these old rockers still are a inspiration for me. They may not have changed the formula but like new Coke vs Old Coke - Old Coke still kicks ass. Newer metal people might not like the album and find it truly dated on many levels but taking the time to listen to it, it shows you will see how Nazareth had influenced many bands that now grace your I-Pods.

History is still relevant... so is this band. The new legions of rockers all over the world should know and love them for what they have given us, and what they can offer us now as well.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 9
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9 out of 10

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