The Cult - Choice of Weapon Review

In their commercial heyday The Cult were that improbable band that bridged the gap between The Cure and Guns N’ Roses (who eventually nicked their drummer), floating in a psychedelic suspension spiritually derived from The Doors (who Cult singer Ian Astbury eventually fronted…sort of) and otherwise inhabited by only occasional others like Jane’s Addiction. When Metallica hired Bob Rock to produce The Black Album, it was allegedly to chase the tones and polish he achieved with The Cult on Sonic Temple. The lazy man’s storyline on Choice of Weapon is Rock’s return and the fact that facially Choice of Weapon, like Sonic Temple, fuses the arena-ready rock of Electric with the mercurial tones of Love, resulting in… a Cult record that sounds like a Cult record....full text Little over two years ago, Cult frontman Ian Astbury boldly declared that his band would never again release a new album, ostensibly disillusioned with the music industry and opting instead to churn out a series of ‘capsule’ format EPs featuring only a handful of new tracks to appease their hardcore following.
Whether this was the genuine stance of one of rock’s most enigmatic figures or simply a delayed reaction to the largely tepid response from critics and fans alike that met their last full output, 2007’s ‘Born Into This’, is a question that only Astbury himself could answer with any kind of clarity.
Whether the band manage to reclaim their throne in the promised land of sold out arenas across the country come September remains to be seen, but in ‘Choice Of Weapon’ they certainly have a vessel worthy of channelling this aspiration.
Should Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy manage to keep their conflicting personalities under wraps this time around and maintain their historically cataclysmic but mutually respectful relationship, there is no reason to doubt that The Cult can rise again.
...full text The Cult , what does that name mean to you? Do you remember Southern Death Cult? Do you remember She Sells Sanctuary? Do you remember Rain? Do you remember when they triumphantly threw a peace sign at the Goths and blasted out Electric?

I’m not saying which I recall, you don’t need to know. Although to be honest I’ve not heard any new material from The Cult since Sonic Temple twenty odd years ago. They have, in Choice of Weapon, reasserted themselves as true masters of bombast electric riff charged rock.

I started to listen to this album as a nostalgic whim which has changed into a recognition that at my heart I still love the sound of a good guitar and singer working together, on this evidence Billy Duffy and Ian Astbury must have a telepathic link by now....full text Choice of Weapon is The Cult’s first full-length release of new studio material in five years. Judging by the album’s dark lyrical content and heavy duty riffs, during that half-decade the band has seen some harrowing times.

The album kicks right off into high gear with the pounding sleaze-metal intro to the first song, “Honey From a Knife.” Bassist Chris Wyse creates a sense of dread with a low, ominous backbeat that remains fairly consistent through most of the 10 songs, while lead guitarist Billy Duffy spices things up with alarm-like buzzing chords. The distorted, trippy chorus, “We got the drugs, the drugs in here,” sums up one of the consistent lyrical topics found on Choice of Weapon: the seamy underbelly of drugs and drug culture....full text