LIVE REVIEW: Cult of Luna @ The Electric Ballroom, London

Post-metal is a genre in a rude state of health as 2019 comes to a close, with an array of new bands emerging over the past few years, many of them boasting inventive new takes on a well-established sound. Even as we’re treated to this influx of innovation, though, genre veterans CULT OF LUNA continue to lead the way, releasing one of the year’s greatest albums in September’s A Dawn To Fear. Seeing new material from a band on top-form should be enough to draw a crowd on its own, but an absolutely mouth-watering bill saw them joined by two artists with a similar devotion to originality in BRUTUS and A.A. WILLIAMS as they brought their live show to the UK’s fair shores.

An early start on a Friday night means the large hall of Camden’s infamous Electric Ballroom is still in the process of filling as UK solo artist A.A. WILLIAMS emerges on stage. Backed by a full band, the singer-songwriter’s poignant gothic folk nevertheless captivates the growing crowd, her set appearing finely-honed despite the singer making her debut performance less than eight months ago at Roadburn. Opener Cold introduces her elegiac vocals and atmospherically rich music, with the melancholy tone of her music proving the perfect appetiser, its understated sense of scope proving subtler than tonight’s comparatively heavier headliner. The mood is set by a simple but effective light show, which drifts from subdued blues and vibrant purples to muted yellows and angelic whites, the latter of which are occasionally interspersed with sinister reds to reflect the dark edge hidden within the singer’s soft grunge epics.

Rating: 8/10

One of the year’s standout bands, Belgian trio BRUTUS are a dynamic powerhouse to be reckoned with. The band released Nest earlier this year after impressing enough with their previous effort, 2017’s Burst, to be snatched up by Sargent House, and with sets like this it’s easy to see why they deserve to be labelmates with esteemed names like Emma Ruth Rundle, RUSSIAN CIRCLES and Chelsea Wolfe. They’re on top-form tonight, their set powered by the transcendent atmospheres of post-rock coupled seamlessly with the foot-stomping urgency of hardcore. Opener War carries an unstoppable momentum that doesn’t relent until the final notes of closer Sugar Dragon ring out. After sets like this, bands will be hesitant to book them as support considering how likely they are to upstage you. No matter, if the world is just they’ll soon be headlining shows of this magnitude themselves.

Rating: 9/10

It’s testament to the consistency of CULT OF LUNA’s output thus far that they’re able to lean heavily on newer material in lieu of relying on earlier classics when touring, with roughly half of tonight’s setlist comprising tracks taken from this year’s A Dawn To Fear. Indeed, these tracks are largely the standouts too, the album’s hefty emotional weight – one that seems to grapple with inner demons rather than the mindless brutality hoarded by many of their peers – proving all the more poignant in a live setting. Set closer The Fall (also the final song on A Dawn To Fear) is particularly heartfelt in its exploration of grief. Not only this, but these songs seem to boast something live that they don’t have on record, with Nightwalkers in particular surging with an electric energy despite the monotonous chugging of the guitars, which sound akin to industrial machinery as they ring across the hall.

Tonight the sextet are ominous silhouettes on a stage engulfed in smoke, an aesthetical choice which makes the intensity of their colossal music all the more enigmatic. This presence proves especially apt for an ethereal Lights On The Hill, where brooding vocals and lush soundscapes prove so vast that it’s nigh-on impossible not to get lost in the embrace. In Awe Of proves another standout in a night lined with them, its raw vocals proving cathartic whilst the chugging rhythm continues throughout, soon becoming almost therapeutic in its repetition as it’s embellished by transcendent melodies and extended instrumental passages.

It seems like each track is a reminder of why the band are so revered, their songwriting prowess shining through whilst their captivating live performance elevates the material and captivates the crowd. The band utilise a delicate interplay of restraint and metallic heft, one’s that clearly been meticulously chosen and thus faultlessly executed. The result is a show worthy of exceedingly high praise.

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Adriana Vasile Photography here: