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.