Interview: Cult of Luna’s Johannes Persson on New LP, ‘The Long Road North’

The Swedish post-metal group Cult of Luna have captured a staggering statement of purpose on their thunderous new album, The Long Road North, available this February from Metal Blade Records.  It crashes through hypnotically captivating, sky-scraping rhythms of incredible magnitude. A searing intensity rushes through the whole trek, like blasts of fire suddenly filling up some maze of forested passageways in a beautifully devastating blaze. You feel overtaken by the onslaught, but the grandiosity is presented so powerfully as to feel welcome right from the get-go.   At times, the music across The Long Road North proceeds without lyrics for noticeable stretches of time, and the compositional weight here is impressive.  The sometimes-tumultuous record is expansive, and the ground can suddenl...