{"id":20060,"date":"2012-05-15T18:18:28","date_gmt":"2012-05-15T23:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=20060"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:03:30","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:03:30","slug":"the-cult-choice-of-weapon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/the-cult-choice-of-weapon\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cult | Choice of Weapon<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Trevor Portz<\/span>
\nStaff Writer —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"After vowing not to make any more albums due the sad state of the music biz, public demand and the need for attention seem to have convinced Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy that \u201cCapsules\u201d aren\u2019t necessarily the only way to continue recording. The result of that mind change is Choice of Weapon<\/em>, their first full album since 2007\u2019s less-than-spectacular Born Into This<\/em>. Touching on just about all of the styles dabbled in by the band in the past\u2014from the post-punk power of Love<\/em> to the earthy hippiness of the Cult<\/em>\u2014 Choice of Weapon<\/em> is definitely a return to form.<\/p>\n

Opener \u201cHoney From a Knife\u201d kicks things off in fine fashion, with a surprisingly not cheesy chant of \u201cwe got the drugs, we got the drugs.\u201d This is followed by \u201cElemental Light,\u201d which\u2014lyrically and musically–would have been very comfortable on the oft-overlooked self-titled album from 1994. While that album was somewhat polarizing for long-time fans, smaller doses of its style work well amongst harder rockers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wolf\u201d and \u201cAmnesia\u201d both return to the style of the classic, unmetallized Cult, with main riffs sounding like castoffs from the Love and Peace<\/em> sessions. In fact, it would appear Duffy even pulled out some classic gear here, with the lead tone boasting the same echo-laden reverb that dominated \u201cShe Sells Sanctuary\u201d and the pre-Electric version of \u201cLove Removal Machine.\u201d <\/p>\n

Astbury\u2019s voice isn\u2019t quite as smooth as it was in his heyday, but has still held up exceptionally well, never losing its Gothic, shaman-like tone. Strangely, the more time that goes on, the more it seems Astbury and fellow crooner Glenn Danzig\u2019s voices become increasingly similar. The appropriately titled \u201cLucifer\u201d is a great example of this, as it feels very much like an outtake from Danzig\u2019s Deth Red Sabaoth. It would be interesting to hear the two work together in some form, assuming ego and politics didn\u2019t get in the way.<\/p>\n

Included on some versions of the album are the four studio tracks previously released on Capsules 1 and 2<\/em>. While \u201cEvery Man and Woman Is a Star\u201d is only decent, \u201cEmbers\u201d is a dark, haunting piece that sits well alongside earlier epics like \u201cBlack Angel\u201d and \u201cWhite.\u201d If anything, it\u2019s great to include the tracks for those that missed out on the quickly sold out (and impossible to find on ebay) Capsules<\/em>.<\/p>\n

While it may not be as stellar as the criminally underrated Dreamtime<\/em>, or as commercially appealing as Sonic Temple<\/em>, Choice of Weapon<\/em> does show that the Astbury\/Duffy well has far from run dry. Who knows, maybe this will be the last full Cult album, and the band will return to releasing bits and bops as they feel like it. If that\u2019s the case, at least fans can look back and be satisfied that the final Cult album was a fitting crown on a long career of great albums. Or maybe it\u2019s the signal that rock fans still care about full-length releases, and not just three-minute digital nuggets. Let\u2019s hope for the latter.<\/p>\n

Genre: \tRock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nIan Astbury (v)
\nBilly Duffy (g)
\nChris Wyse (b)
\nJohn Tempesta (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tHoney From a Knife
\n2.\tElemental Light
\n3.\tFor the Animals
\n4.\tLife>Death
\n5.\tThe Wolf
\n6.\tAmnesia
\n7.\tLucifer
\n8.\tWilderness Now
\n9.\tA Pale Horse
\n10.\tThis Night in the City Forever
\n11.\tEvery Man and Woman Is a Star
\n12.\tEmbers
\n13.\tUntil the Light Takes Us
\n14.\tSiberia<\/p>\n

Label: Cooking Vinyl Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.thecult.us<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9.1\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Trevor Portz Staff Writer — After vowing not to make any more albums due the sad state of the music biz, public demand and the need for attention seem to have convinced Ian Astbury […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20060","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20060\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}