Long Distance Calling - Avoid the Light

It’s not easy to tie Long Distance Calling down to one particular genre or style of music. While it might be tempting to place the German act right along post-rock groups like Mogway and Explosions in the Sky due to the absence of vocals, a closer and deeper inspection to “Avoid the Light” reveals that Long Distance Calling has a great deal more to offer. Their songs explore a vast array of different patterns and sounds like dark-ambient, post-rock, progressive rock and metal, all masterfully merged in equal measures as there’s no single genre overly standing out from the others. Their sophomore work is intelligent and deliberately calibrated affair from start to finish, they know how to rock hard like in a good portion of “Sundown Highway”, but also know how to create sonic ambiences of a rare beauty like for instance in “I Know You, Stanley Milgram!” The remaining 4 themes featured here also have their own flair and texture, the opening song “Apparitions” spanning over 12 minutes is a superb amalgamation of dark ambiences, melodic guitar picking, slightly dissonant riffs, psychedelic passages and potent and progressive drumming.
The second track, “Black Paper Planes,” is shorter in length than its predecessor, but is equally diverse with plenty of crescendos leaning towards post-rock with a progressive edge. “The Nearing Grave” is a song that stands out for having vocalisations, courtesy of Jonas Renske from Swedish act Katatonia. It’s a superb song with a dark atmosphere and memorable vocal harmonies, though I’m tempted to believe that Long Distance Calling wrote this song specifically for Jonas Renske fragile and comatose voice ‘cause it actually sounds like a Katatonia theme.
Although “Avoid the Light” isn’t overly groundbreaking, it is a rather good and enjoyable record from a group that reveal a surprising affinity for dynamism which makes it difficult to determinate their exact origins. (7/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/longdistancecalling
Label info: www.superballmusic.com