I must confess when I heard about the Cult reunion I dismissed it without a thought because unless you were a die hard Cult fan, 94's self titled album did nothing for me and the last killer album they released was the Bob Rock produced Sonic Temple back in '88, so when I saw this release was produced by the same famed producer my ears pricked up. And lo and behold I was pleasantly impressed by what I heard.
This is greater than most of the stuff that they have so far released and is definitely not a band trading on former glories. The garish red and green cover stares back at you and looks about as trendy as a Parker on a hot day but don't let this deceive you for the contents are the Cult at their Rocking best, the guitar sound bringing to mind Cathedral at times and Ian's vocals sounding as good as ever. Lead track "War" kicks off in fine style sounding like the Cult always promised too but never did. "Rise" is as good as it gets and if you have seen the video on Kerrang TV you will know how good it is, this will sound great coming out of the Radio if it get's released as a single, hopefully with the Video as an enhanced extra.
There are no bad tracks and all of them except 2 rock like the Cult mean business, while the others are a little slower with that much missed Ashbury harmonies. Stand out tracks; "Rise", "American Gothic" and "Speed Of Light".