There are times when the very name of a band is enough to spark interest, and that’s all it takes, really. Moose Cult? Okay, I”m in. Mastered by Dan Swanö as well? Say no more. Book of The Machines is the second outing by the English/American four piece, having burst onto the scene last year with their self-titled album.
For the uninitiated, Moose Cult is comprised of of the bands Bull Elephant, Thūn, and Monsterworks. Their goal, as it would appear, is to create their very own brand of doom, death and traditional metal. The head of this cult would be guitarist-shrieker-growler Jonny Moose, accompanied by lead guitarist Tommy Loose, Jimmy K on drums, and a very welcome fretless bass which is handled by Hugo Cult.
The chief source of inspiration for Book Of The Machines is a book titled Erewhon, written by Samuel Butler back in 1872. This is a book set in a fictional country discovered and explored by the protagonist and is one of the first novels to explore ideas of artificial intelligence, as influenced by Darwin”s (at the time) recently published, On the Origin of Species. As one might imagine, the lyrics are highly reflective on humanity from our genesis and as the album progresses, human evolution with regards to science and the environment, evolving thought, and of course, the topic of artificial intelligence.
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What about the music? There are more than a few surprises in store. “Erewhon” serves as a great opener to the album, as it showcases the band well. It has a lot of ideas that seamlessly flow into each other, which is not something unique to this track alone, as one soon discovers. The way the song leads into dark and doomy territory and then transitioning in and out of that definitely got me hooked. “Death Meditation” caught me off guard with that wonderful black metal sounding intro, before becoming a straightforward death metal beauty along with a reverb laden solo that reminded me a bit of Blood Incantation. Moose Cult are great at creating dreamy psychedelic ages, and this track is a great example of that. The bass on this album is so brilliantly mixed, and I appreciated it most in “Curse of Meditation”, which I find has perhaps the most ideas packed into it, but it never feels too cramped. I was sure that it had the best ending, until “Earth(l)ing” happened. If it isn”t obvious enough at this point, the album increases in intensity, and “Earth(l)ing” takes it up a notch not just in heaviness but also how that is contrasted by its atmospheric elements. “Gateway to Evolving Thought” is a sort of instrumental track that comes at just the right point to slow things down a bit. “Headless Cult” is in my view, the more restrained track as far as having many ideas are concerned, and has some really memorable hooks to boot. “Book Of The Machines” is a fitting conclusion to this body of work, and it truly sounds sinister as it opens, and is another track where the bass shines beautifully. Thematically, it is the logical conclusion to what has been explored throughout the album.
Overall, this is a solid album that has a lot of musical ideas, but with just about all of them given the adequate room to breathe. I found the lyrics to be well crafted and not as cliché as can often times be, particularly with such topics. In an age where the term “artificial intelligence” is seemingly inescapable, I”d say they are asking the right questions.
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Book of The Machines comes out on 6 September 2024. Pre-order it now on Bandcamp.
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Moose Cult: bandcamp
