Cult of Luna and Bossk at The Glasgow Garage
What a gig this was! A coming of age for post-metal as the quite wonderful Cult of Luna, from Sweden, were moved to the bigger venue of the Glasgow Garage, and completely filled it! This was the 10th anniversary tour for the classic ‘Somewhere Along the Highway’ album, a defining and milestone album for post-metal.
Bossk played immediately before Cult of Luna and showed they are an immensely talented band. ‘The Reverie’ from ‘Audio Noir’, their first full-length album, opens the set; and what a brilliant album title that’s so descriptive of their music! ‘The Reverie’ shows off all that is best about this great band. The beautiful lead guitar melody and soaring chill out guitar sounds, played by the two guitarists, is underpinned by some precise funky jazz like drums. The final head banging section has a full on almost thrash like charge, which is completely irresistible. The final sounds are left to reverberate and die away through the sound system, all beautifully complemented by the blue stage lighting and incense aroma drifting from the stage. Just so good!
When Cult of Luna emerge out of the darkness onto the Glasgow Garage stage, the expansive nature of the band line up is very striking: three guitarists, bass, keyboards and two drummers. Put together with Cult of Luna’s massive ambition and vision, it’s a recipe for a cathartic and emotional live musical experience.
The opening combination of ‘The Sweep’ and ‘Light Chaser’, from ‘Vertikal’ and ‘Vertikal II’, is exquisite in its sonic imagination. The atmospheric ambient sounds and electronics of ‘The Sweep’ gently give way to the ethereal repeating guitar figure that characterises ‘Light Chaser’. The two wonderful percussionists, Thomas Hedlund and Magnus Líndberg, provide a superbly inventive rhythmic counterpoint, and as the song reaches its climax, the three vocalists in the band howl black metal like screams across each other. The audience is streaked with strobe like white lighting throughout, which adds a further edgy atmosphere to this stunning set opener!
‘Finland’ and ‘Back to Chapel Town’ from ‘Somewhere Along the Highway’ are stand out moments in a superb set. ‘Finland’ in particular demonstrates how Cult of Luna both define and transcend the post-metal genre. It is a piece made up of distinct but linked musical movements. The first movement is set to an almost marching beat, with crashing doom laden guitar chords. During this, Johannes Persson approaches the microphone to launch into a chilling scream, which serves to really build the mournful mood. This is followed by a quieter section, with beautifully delicate guitar sounds; subsequently driven by some wonderfully complex percussive rhythms towards a repeating melodic line that builds in intensity, and in characteristic post-metal style to climatic screaming vocals. Then a truly lovely bridging section, with chiming guitar countermelodies, takes hold in the song. The music then bravely pauses (how many bands are brave enough to pause mid-song), and swings back hard into the repeating melody and Johannes heartfelt screams. This is complex and seriously compositional music, which also reaches out to the heart and emotions with its post-metal dynamics.
‘Back to Chapel Town’, with its inventive combination of heavier guitars and synthesisers, is quite cinematic in scope. It also thumps you in the chest as the musical shockwaves seem to shoot up from the floor and out from the stage, making the song a very physical experience. It’s floating almost hymnal like musical coda lasts a full minute, as the heaviness is suddenly and shockingly gone.
Cult of Luna are simply exceptional, and musical innovators in the metal world; and those of us who witnessed their performance in Glasgow, will not forget it for a long time to come.
All gig photographs by Lewis Allen.
About the Author
Gareth Allen A committed metal head with a love of jazz, soul, and folk. Living in Central Scotland and attending gigs in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with it's really amazing venues. My iconic moment... being invited on stage at the Glasgow Garage, by DevilDriver's Dez Fafara!
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