Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	85/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com
Allmusic
BBC Music	Positive
Decibel Magazine
Exclaim!	8/10
Pitchfork Media	6.8/10
PopMatters	9/10
Revolver	4/5
Slant Magazine

Vertikal II

EP by Cult of Luna

Released

September 17, 2013

Genre

Post-metal

Length

35:18

Label

Indie

Producer

Cult of Luna, Kristian Karlsson

Cult of Luna chronology

Vertikal
(2013)

Vertikal II
(2013)

Råångest
(2015)

Vertikal is the sixth studio album by the Swedish metal band Cult of Luna and is also the band's first studio album since Eternal Kingdom (2008). The album was released in Europe on January 25, 2013 through Indie Recordings, and in the US on January 29, 2013 on CD through Density Records and on vinyl through Back on Black. To promote the album, Cult of Luna released the song "I: The Weapon" for online streaming prior to the release of Vertikal, and released a music video for the song "Passing Through" in February 2013. The album was critically acclaimed upon release and earned an average score of 85 based on 10 reviews at Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics.

During the writing process, Cult of Luna was heavily influenced by Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis, which became a major source of inspiration for Vertikal's conceptual theme, sound and imagery. Thematically, the album features ideas of cities, machinery, and factories, and it was also noted for incorporating a heavier focus on keyboards and electronic elements than on previous Cult of Luna albums. The writing sessions were particularly fruitful, leaving the band with a large collection of songs to choose from for the album. As a result, the band released the companion EP, Vertikal II, in September 2013.

The 2013 release of Vertikal marks the longest period of time between studio albums in Cult of Luna's history; the band last released Eternal Kingdom five years prior in 2008. The band cited the fact that all members were living in different cities, had busy lives with their own families and jobs, and not being signed to record label at the time as various reasons for this long gap. Ultimately and retrospectively, Cult of Luna guitarist Johannes Persson said this additional time was beneficial for the writing process. He said, "we didn't rush into anything, and we wrote a whole lot of different songs of which not all of them made it into the recording process. We could actually choose songs that would be working toward the goal we had."

When the members of Cult of Luna decided they officially wanted to start working on a new album, they began messaging each other ideas of what they wanted it to sound like using books, films and photographs for inspiration. Cult of Luna first noted that their two previous albums, Somewhere Along the Highway and Eternal Kingdom, had very rural conceptual theme to them, so the band made the conscious effort to aim for a city theme with Vertikal. Common themes that arose out of the exchange of media for inspiration included Futurism and German Expressionism of the 1920s, in addition to compiling a list of ideas for how including: industrial, factory, monotone, repetitive, harsh and grey. One idea that prominently popped up during these discussions was Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis — a landmark film in German Expressionism. Cult of Luna drummer and percussionist Thomas Hedlund commented on the band's interest in the film, stating: "We wanted to find a contrast to the previous albums. They were more rural, earthy and organic in a way. This time we wanted to explore the city; the machinery that is a society. Metropolis dealt with questions about belonging, the need for a change, human vs. machines, love. All of which were topics that we found inspiring in the making of this album." Speaking on the importance of having a conceptual theme for an album, Persson said, "I think one important aspect of artistic work is having boundaries and limits. I think many people do themselves a disservice by working too freely, as then you don't challenge yourself – anything can go."

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