In the Shadow of Your Shadow

Description

"Cult Of Luna constantly pushes the boundaries of its creativity. Inspired by artists from hardcore, sludge metal, folk, art rock, and much more, these Swedish luminaries are acclaimed as one of the most powerful and fearless bands in alternative music. *In the Shadow of Your Shadow* represents a bold new leap into darkness: probably their darkest work to date, but rich in ideas that demonstrate they remain unmatched, 25 years after their debut.
“Stagnation is the only thing that scares me,” says singer/guitarist and co-founder Johannes Persson. “I’ve said it in every interview I’ve done in the last 25 years: I don’t care if people think we’re repeating ourselves. As long as we feel like we’re not, we’ll keep going.”
This new album, their tenth studio effort, is a monolith of 71 minutes: a frank rejection of trends, conventions, and complacency towards the audience. Lyrically, it channels recent experiences of loss through a set of dark songs. The eponymous title track and first single evokes feelings thought buried, coming back to the surface after a painful event. It takes the perspective of that suffering and characterizes it as a parasite: “Its body is weak, the cracks will suit me. A disfigured form, I will complete it.”
The next track, *Sadness Will Reign*, is a misanthropic and direct statement, asserting: “You were all born from dirt!” The screams of Joe Duplantier, the frontman of extreme metal titans Gojira, underscore the fury of this title. But, despite all this intensity, the band also broadens its horizons. *One More Day* – a song about the emotional struggle against depression, about getting through life one day at a time – adopts a slow pace in the manner of Fields of the Nephilim, showcasing the baritone of David Eugene Edwards, leader of 16 Horsepower and an icon of American folk.
“David has been a huge influence for years,” confides Persson. “I’m a big fan of 16 Horsepower, his solo projects, and Wovenhand for decades. *One More Day* is one of my favorite tracks on the album. His voice fits perfectly with the song and carries the subject with conviction.”
The album concludes with the cataclysmic *Burial*, whose ending stacks some of Cult Of Luna's most powerful riffs into a true feat. A nearly 12-minute contemplation on mortality, it draws inspiration from the arc of life and death, and how these concepts are perceived differently depending on each person's journey.
“I’ve always had a non-dramatic relationship with death,” explains Persson. “I think it’s because I grew up in a religious environment where death was not seen as an end. Even though I’m an atheist and believe that what happens after death is the same as what happened before our birth, the subject of the end, and how it drives people to plunge into the vast void, has always fascinated me.”
Produced in collaboration with Daniel Berglund, *In the Shadow of Your Shadow* is an evolutionary new effort from a band that refuses to stagnate. It’s devastating and diverse, and it solidifies their place as pioneers."