Band:	Cult Of Luna
Album:	A Dawn To Fear
Style:	Post-metal, Sludge metal
Release date:	September 2019

01. The Silent Man
02. Lay Your Head To Rest
03. A Dawn To Fear
04. Nightwalkers
05. Lights On The Hill
06. We Feel The End
07. Inland Rain
08. The Fall

With the demise of Isis at the end of the noughties, Cult Of Luna have arguably been the dominant force in post-metal this decade, having already dropped two monumental efforts. Vertikal and Mariner have set a high standard to live up to; thankfully, A Dawn To Fear has no issues matching up to its predecessors.

Operating within a genre that has at times been maligned for saturation and excessive similarity, Cult Of Luna have successfully imbued each of their releases with its own distinct personality, with Somewhere Along The Highway warmer and more delicate than the menace of Salvation and its sludgier predecessors, and Eternal Kingdom feeling somewhat more immediate and song-driven. The same is true for Vertikal, with its cold, mechanical atmosphere inspired by the classic silent film Metropolis, and Mariner, most notable for the guest vocal contributions of Julie Christmas of Battle Of Mice fame; however, Christmas aside, I felt like these two were arguably the most similar of Cult Of Luna's albums to date, primarily due to the synth/electronics-dominated atmospheres of each record. When "The Silent Man" dropped back in May, with its driving riffs, post-rock tremolo guitars and dramatic organ-dominated second half, it was immediately apparent that A Dawn To Fear would not just be more of the same. Across its colossal 80-minute runtime, Cult Of Luna once again demonstrate new sides to their sound, whilst at the same time drawing on aspects already displayed throughout their past 20 years as a collective.

"Lay Your Head To Rest", the second single and track on the record, reminds me of the Vertikal/Vertikal II era, most notably tracks such as "Light Chaser", with its relentless percussive march. Conversely, "Inland Rain" feels like a callback to Salvation and particularly Somewhere Along The Highway. At the same time, there is plenty on display to distinguish the album from its predecessors. Arguably most striking is the aforementioned use of organ here, adding a completely new flavour to the likes of "The Silent Man" and the brooding title track. Additionally, the percussionists have really upped their game; rhythms such as those powering "The Silent Man"'s intro/outro and the midsection of "Nightwalkers" are new territory for the band, and add distinct feels to these tracks. Finally, the epic centrepiece of the album, "Lights On The Hill", is imbued with a sorrowful pathos that Cult Of Luna have rarely, if ever, approached on past records, with the possible exception of "Following Betulas".

There is an awful lot to dissect on A Dawn To Fear; I could spend a whole extra paragraph identifying similarities and novelties compared with past albums. Instead, I'll more directly state what makes it so excellent. For such a long album, it remains truly engrossing and compelling throughout, with a remarkable consistency in quality across the tracklist, which has been consummately curated so that the softer parts, hookier riffs and crushing heaviness each come and go at the perfect moment to avoid any staleness creeping in. Honestly, I'm struggling to find any particular weaknesses; perhaps the quiet "We Feel The End" or the bookending sections of "Lights On The Hill" could be trimmed? On the flip side, the highlights of a stellar tracklist are the aforementioned opener "The Silent Man" and 15-minute "Lights On The Hill", which lives up to previous epics such as "Vicarious Redemption", as well as the awesome closer "The Fall", similar in length, atmosphere and quality to "Dark City Dead Man".

To be honest, up to about a month ago, 2019 had been a pretty dry year for me; a lot of very good releases, but nothing I would consider truly great. However, after recent strong releases from Tool and Disillusion, the quality has finally arrived. A Dawn To Fear is going to take an awful lot of beating as far as my Album of the Year goes, and may well be Cult Of Luna's most rounded effort since Somewhere Along The Highway.