Album of the Year - 1st Place

Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas - Mariner

And so we arrive, at the top of the tree, for the album which this writer considers the outstanding release of the year. Realistically, any one of the top 10 albums, in another year, could be considered the top dog, however, they have all fallen at the same time as a genuine line-in-the-sand moment in post-metal history.

Most people will have heard of Cult of Luna, the post-metal band from Sweden who arrived on the scene being predictably compared to Isis, "Mariner" is their seventh album release. Over the years they have often pushed into places other bands wouldn't have even thought of, never mind considered. The monumentally brilliant "Salvation" has for a long time been considered one of their greatest musical moment, but the band has grown in their art ever since, and now put together entire concepts, like the incredible "Eternal Kingdom" album in 2008 being accompanied by a supporting book, and audiobook and the conceptual "Vertikal" I & II, which pushed themes of industrial cities and machinery into the narrative. Cult of Luna have always looked at ways they could evolve, progress and mature their sound.

Now we have "Mariner", where Cult of Luna have again developed, this time by writing the album as a collaboration with Julie Christmas. The added dimension of female vocals on here means this is a Cult of Luna style you have never heard before.

Julie Christmas herself is by no means lacking in post-metal experience of course. The former Made Out of Babies vocalist has already got a impressive collection of recording, with the aforementioned band, post-metal supergroup Battle of Mice and a stirring solo album have all showed that she is a leading vocalist in the post-metal scene and a grand songwriter.

Adding someone as talented as Julie Christmas to a band as accomplished as Cult of Luna sounds like it's a sure-fire winner, but the sum of the parts is so much greater than the whole.

Between the seven musicians who have created this masterpiece, they have excogitated all the parts of post-metal and added a finely focused lens to the brew. Every single note sounds purposeful, every single riff memorable and every single word sung perfectly, be it Christmas' delicate soulful performance or the guttural roars, it all hits so purposefully.

"Mariner" is again a concept album, focused on space exploration, and the stratosphere is his big this album deserves to be. There have been some great albums released this year, and then there has been this. An album which could come to define post-metal. Phenomenal.

KC

Album Of The Year

1 - Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas - 'Mariner'
2 - Urfaust - 'Empty Space Meditation'
3 - Thrawsunblat - 'Metachthonia'
4 - Trap Them - 'Crown Feral'
5 - Cobalt - 'Slow Forever'
6 - Ihsahn - 'Arktis'
7 - Bossk - 'Audio Noir'
8 - Anaal Nathrakh - 'The Whole of the Law'
9 - Gojira - 'Magma'

10 - Boss Keloid - 'Herb Your Enthusiasm'