AVOID THE LIGHT

One of the great injustices of this site is that KATATONIA for some unknown reason is being kept off of it.They'd fit perfectly in the Experimental / Post-Metal genre with ANATHEMA, GREEN CARNATION, IN THE WOODS... and other like bands. Why do I mention that here ? Well to my delight Jonas Renkse the amazing singer for the great KATATONIA sings on one track here, he also wrote the lyrics. He is here courtesy of Peaceville Records. Just had to say that because Peaceville Records and KATATONIA go hand in hand. An amazing band. Anyway LONG DISTANCE CALLING is from Germany and with or without Jonas these guys are flat out incredible. Kind of a blend of Post-Rock and Metal really, which is right up my alley. These guys "rock" really hard, and they also like to build soundscapes. Nice job on the liner notes too, especially the way it unfolds to these 12" X 12" pictures on both sides.

"Apparitions" opens with what sounds like synths and keys that gradually builds until we get a full sound 2 minutes in. A calm 3 1/2 minutes in and then it starts to build again a minute later. Lots of atmosphere before 7 minutes as it settles again. It's building again a minute later. Here we go ! Riffs then a calm 11 minutes in to end it. Fantastic track ! "Black Paper Planes" opens with a dark atmosphere and I love it when it kicks in. Killer bass. Drums only before 2 1/2 minutes then the guitar comes in. Nice. It's building. Great sound 4 1/2 minutes in.The drumming is excellent. Heck it's outstanding throughout this album. Another great tune. "359" opens with guitar and bass sounds and then this relaxed beat comes in. There's that drumming again 2 1/2 minutes in. A change 5 minutes in as we get this catchy beat with guitar. It's building. So uplifting before 7 minutes.

"I Know You, Stanley Milgram !" is dreamy to open, almost spacey actually. No real melody until the drums kick in around 2 minutes. A full sound follows. Here we go ! It then settles 4 minutes in to a dark atmosphere. It's building and then it kicks in heavily after 8 minutes. Great sound ! Kicking ass 10 minutes in to the end. "The Nearing Grave" is where Jonas does his thing. It's restrained and dark until after a minute, vocals follow. Yay!! It's fairly laid back yet there's this powerful undercurrent. Amazing sound 2 1/2 minutes in. It settles again like the intro as themes are repeated. Love the guitar after 6 1/2 minutes. This is so moving for me. "Sundown Highway" features these heavy drums as it starts to build. It settles with drums 3 minutes in and they sound so good. It kicks in again. This is all too perfect. Just pure bliss 4 minutes in as they offer up this heavy sound. Check out the guitar after 4 1/2 minutes ! It starts to wind down after 7 minutes until acoustic guitar and percussion can only be heard.

For me this is right up there with the RED SPAROWES and RUSSIAN CIRCLES debuts.