BEYOND GOOD & EVIL

The Cult: Ian Astbury (vocals); Billy Duffy (guitar); Matt Sorum (drums). Additional personnel: Martin LeNoble, Chris Wyse (bass). Recorded at Plantation Recording, Maui, Hawaii and Village Recorders, Los Angeles, California. Personnel: Ian Astbury (vocals); Billy Duffy (guitar); Martyn Lenoble, Chris Wyse (bass guitar); Matt Sorum (drums). Audio Mixer: Randy Staub . Recording information: Plantation Mixing & Recording, Maui, Ha; The Village Recorders, West Los Angeles, CA. Editor: Mike Gillies. Photographers: Andrew McPherson ; P.R. Brown. Although the '90s proved to be a dour decade that found The Cult battling dwindling record sales and each other before calling it quits in 1995, these goth-inspired hard rockers managed to reunite and release BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL in 2001. In re-teaming with veteran producer Bob Rock, The Cult cobbled together a batch of songs overflowing with Billy Duffy's fat Led Zeppelin-flavored riffs, Matt Sorum's thunderous drumming, and lyrics influenced by frontman Ian Astbury's spiritual trek to Tibet. While the anthemic "True Believers" directly refers to said quest, other topics include contemporary society's slide into self-absorption ("Take The Power," "War [The Process]"), a walk on the metaphysical side ("Ashes And Ghosts"), and appropriately enough, rebirth ("The Saint"). Despite the weighty topics, The Cult keeps the decibels cranked as Duffy pours molten waves of distortion into guitar-fueled rants like "Rise" and "American Gothic." Periodically, flashes of the band's old sound pop up. Among the most notable are the hard-charging groove of "My Bridges Burn" (reminiscent of "Fire Woman") and the touching "Nico," a tribute to the early Velvets singer that brings to mind "Edie (Ciao Baby)." BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL is a great start towards a much better decade for these English rockers.