Anyone familiar with the heavier side of Swedish music will likely have heard of the little town of Umeå, home town of thrash metal legends Meshuggah, but they are hardly the only band to hail from this hot spot of musical talent. Cult of Luna are another heavy band from the little town in North Sweden, but aside from these two things Cult of Luna are an entirely different beast from Meshuggah. Cult of Luna are heavily influenced by the doom/sludge sound which has been growing in popularity the past few years, and they fit nicely into the new genre dubbed post metal by music critics. This makes Cult of Luna a musical cousin of bands like Isis, Rwake, or fellow Nordics Callisto.

Cult of Luna have just released their fifth studio album, titled Eternal Kingdom, in their native Sweden, and will be releasing it in North America next week. I haven’t had the opportunity to hear it yet, but based on previous albums like Salvation or Somewhere Along the Highway I expect it will be an awesomely dark album. Supposedly the plot of the album was inspired by a journal the band found on the site of an old mental institution, which contained the ravings and hallucinations of a madman. I’ve heard similar stories before, so I’m a little dubious as to the veracity of the band’s story, but it sounds like an interesting premise nonetheless.

1. “Owlwood” - 7:39
2. “Eternal Kingdom” - 6:41
3. “Ghost Trail” - 11:50
4. “The Lure (Interlude)” - 2:33
5. “Mire Deep” - 5:10
6. “The Great Migration” - 6:32
7. “Österbotten” - 2:19
8. “Curse” - 6:30
9. “Ugín” - 2:44
10. “Following Betulas” - 8:56

When the album is released in North America, it should be available from all the big retailers like Amazon and quite possibly your local record store.

Hello, I’m Valtteri from Finland, and I’ll be contributing to this blog as often as possible. As I’m Finnish, I’ll most likely concentrate the most on music from my own country (I can’t really avoid coming into contact with news from Finland, can I), although I’m also very interested in expanding my knowledge in the other Nordic countries as well. To kick this thing off, here’s a piece of news from Sweden!

The popular Swedish rock and pop outfit Kent just released a new single from their current album Tillbaka till Samtiden, which saw the light of day last year. The material on the album initially drew controversy among the legions of Kent fans with it’s renewed, electronically enhanced style, but the new direction was all for the good of the long-running band, because Tillbaka till Samtiden received mostly ravingly praising reviews and was a success all around. The new single, titled Vy från ett luftslott (Punks Jump Up Remix) is a more dance-oriented reworking of the track Vy från ett luftslott from Tillbaka till Samtiden, and it’s a great way to introduce yourself to Kent’s unique style of addictive pop-rock. You can download the 100% free single with artwork on Kent’s website, but since the site is completely in Swedish, I’ve included direct links to it below.

Download Vy från ett luftslott (Punks Jump Up Remix) 320 kbps with artwork (8,2 Mb)

Download Vy från ett luftslott (Punks Jump Up Remix) 128 kbps with artwork (3,6 Mb)

Finnish industrial metal band Turmion Kätilöt are well known to many, both for their addictively catchy heavy metal and for their outlandish stage shows. Despite legal difficulties with current (former?) label Spinefarm, Turmion Kätilöt have released their third full length studio album U.S.C.H. last week, free of charge from new label Raha Records. For those who are fans of the band’s last album Pirun nyrkki the very heavy combinations of electronics and metal will be a welcome addition to their musical library, and for those who aren’t, there’s no better time (or price!) to get to know what might just become your new favourite band!