Swedish post-metal institution CULT OF LUNA have shared "A Way Back", the second single from their tenth studio album "In The Shadow Of Your Shadow", out November 6 via RED CRK Recordings.
Where the crushing title track announced the record, "A Way Back" is one of its most restrained passages — a slow burn that gathers rather than detonates.
"I often find myself trying to describe a recurring feeling, the sensation of being lost, trapped, or both, and the struggle to find a way out," co-vocalist and guitarist Fredrik Kihlberg said of the song. "A way back to yourself, to a safe space, or simply finding a way to make it through when anxiety overwhelms you: at its core, that's what this song is about."
At 71 minutes, "In The Shadow Of Your Shadow" is a monolith, and by the band's own description possibly the darkest thing to carry their name. Lyrically it channels recent losses. The title track takes feelings assumed to be long buried, and casts their return as a parasite: "His body is weak, the cracks will fit me. A disfigured form, I will complete it."
"We all have our history, we all have our baggage," explains singer, guitarist and co-founder Johannes Persson. "There were certain things that I thought I'd left behind, and certain events during the last couple of years have brought them back. When you put the lid on things for decades, it's interesting to see how they come back. This parasite is back again."
Two guests appear. Joe Duplantier of GOJIRA sings on "Sadness Will Reign", and David Eugene Edwards of 16 HORSEPOWER and WOVENHAND takes "One More Day". "What I like about Joe is that he has a very particular voice," Persson says. "It has its own unique character and would stand out even if you put him next to a hundred or a thousand other vocalists." Of Edwards: "David has been a huge influence for years. His voice fits perfectly on the song and it carries the subject matter with conviction."
The album was co-produced with Daniel Berglund and mixed by Magnus Lindberg. Twenty-five years on from their debut, the band from Umeå — the same town that produced MESHUGGAH — remain governed by a single fear. "Stagnation is the only thing that scares me," Persson says. "I don't care whether or not people think we're repeating ourselves. As long as we feel like we aren't, we will continue to do this."
"In The Shadow Of Your Shadow" track listing:
- In The Shadow Of Your Shadow
- Sadness Will Reign (feat. Joe Duplantier)
- Landby
- Breach
- The Rift
- A Way Back
- One More Day (feat. David Eugene Edwards)
- From Grey To Black
- Burial
Source: blabbermouth.net