The Cult
Choice Of Weapon

Finally!

This was my first thought. After a full two years of waiting, biting my fingernails (and even those on my feet), after hundreds of debunked rumors about the production of a new and imminent album, two years of sleepless nights without stopping thinking about them... okay, enough. In short, they finally made it. As you might have already guessed, this is a special event for me, for a band I immediately loved with my first listen of Love and for all the subsequent albums.

They left us with the bitter aftertaste of "Born Into This" from 5 years ago, a disheartening flop for a band that has always remained at more than decent levels, even with the overly commercial and much-maligned Sonic Temple, and they promised us a new album that was significantly better, with hopes for a return to the origins. Part of those promises have been kept, as indeed "Choice of Weapon" presents itself as a sort of "Born Into This 2.0", with significant improvements, both in the old cacophonous sound and in the overall production of the album, and the recovery of that spirit and grit that gave life to that "sonic brick" from 2001, known as "Beyond Good And Evil". But the real gem is, surprisingly for many (including myself) who have talked to me about it, the presence of a very familiar melancholic and dark aura that envelops the entire album, harking back to the thoughts and sensations (for those who know the Cult well) of "Ceremony", that little rock jewel too underrated by everyone and everything. To be honest, it's not that big of a surprise, but only because the cover makes it so immediately clear, depicting an old Native American shaman, just as our dear gothic and ghostly uncle Ian Astbury is. Moreover, this ninth milestone represents a significant meeting point with all past albums, sharing the goth/post-punk sounds with those of hard & heavy, a meeting point where Ian and the fearless Billy Duffy give their best, undeterred by their advanced age, and supported by respectable musicians like Chris Wyse and John Tempesta, both in the band since 2006, the latter boasting a kick-ass resume.

But is this album really all this Godsend, as I've described it so far? Unfortunately not, or at least not for me...

Despite all the aforementioned improvements, which I have partially mentioned (the rest you have to discover with a listen), the work drags along the main problem of "Born Into This", which was also the most crushing and deadly one, namely: the inconsistency. The inconsistency, both within the songs and the songs themselves, between good and interesting moments and boring and anonymous moments. A trap I unexpectedly fell into after "Honey from a Knife" and "Elemental Light", two more than excellent tracks to start the listening. In fact, from "The Wolf" to "This Night in the City Forever", it's a continuous and alternating succession of boredom, interest, boredom, adrenaline, boredom, emotion, boredom, more boredom... In short, pieces of excellent rock Cult style like "For the Animals" and "Lucifer" and melancholic yet joyful ballads like "Life > Death" and "Wilderness Now" are unjustly side by side with other similar tracks that seem partially designed as fillers. And as happens other times, it occurs that, in the deluxe version of the album, a couple of songs are thrown in that could have easily been included in the main tracklist, as a replacement for those less fitting and less convincing tracks. And by this, I mean all the bonus songs, all 4 of them, even the two released two years ago as singles, "Every Man and Woman Is a Star" and "Embers", those very songs that hinted at the arrival of a new album and raised hopes for an excellent album, given their astonishing quality, significantly better than what 'Born Into This' was.

Perhaps my judgment is somewhat unclear and suggests that I, from a great complex, always expect perfection. No, not always. I am firmly convinced that this new Choice of Weapon is part of that particular category of albums that, with repeated listening and a lot of patience, significantly increase their value from a personal point of view. Therefore, summing up, an album that both surprised and disappointed me, as I expected something simply direct and precise, without overthinking it too much. Maybe, by continuing to listen to it, I might like it more and more, partially forgetting its inherited flaws. For the moment, if you intend to purchase it, I can suggest you get the deluxe two-disc version, which besides being inexpensive is well-packaged. 

RATING = 70 / 100