Cult of Luna is a seven-piece collective from Umeå, Sweden. Their mixture of post metal, shoe gaze, and out-and-out doom metal manages to be ethereal and crushing at the same time. The band is widely regarded as one of the most seminal acts in 21st century metal.

After fifteen years of nonstop recording and touring, Cult of Luna announced in 2013 that they would be taking an extended hiatus, but promised to return “in one form or another.” I, for one, am anxiously awaiting that day!

This week’s Massive Metal Monday track comes from Cult of Luna’s second album, The Beyond, which was released in 2003. Check out the official video for “The Watchtower” and check out more of these guys if you like what you’re hearing.

When I was growing up in rural Indiana in the early ’80s, there was very limited access to heavy music. These were the days before MTV blew up with the whole hair metal, Headbangers Ball phenomenon. But on Sunday nights, there was a two-hour radio show that came from WOXY, just across the state line in Oxford, Ohio (home of Miami University of Ohio). It was called Massive Metal for the Masses, and I would wait all week for it to air. It was through this show that I was introduced to bands like Venom, Bathory, WASP, Michael Schenker Group, Slayer, and countless others. This Monday weekly column is my tip of the hat to that show. I call it Massive Metal Monday. Every week, I pay tribute to defining moments by the artists that laid the groundwork for heavy metal to become the worldwide cultural bond for all of us metal heads.