ALBUM REVIEW: The Phantom Void – Long Distance Calling

Since forming twenty years ago, LONG DISTANCE CALLING have been a beacon of consistency in the post-rock world. The German four-piece rarely go more than a couple of years without releasing new music, with eight previous albums and a handful of EPs to their name. As such, it’s notable that The Phantom Void comes after a four-year break, a much-needed pause for the band in the wake of their relentless schedule of releases and touring.

Their return with this, their ninth record, delves into the concept of dreams – or perhaps more fittingly nightmares, given this is among the darkest and heaviest work of the band to date. Intro track Mare sets the scene, an ominous rumbling voiceover leading a countdown into dreams that brings to mind DREAM THEATER‘s Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory recast with Jigsaw from the Saw movie franchise. Follow-up track and single, The Spiral, reinforces the effect, mixing a sneaky major modulation on bass and intense guitar histrionics into a kaleidoscope of terror.

Much of the band’s standard formula remains: extended instrumental rock songs, almost always topping six minutes in length, switching between different movements and unafraid of faster tempos. In truth, this sits somewhere between post-rock and post-metal, with more than a hint of RUSSIAN CIRCLES evident in the band’s DNA, especially in the drumming.

The pacy Nocturnal soars by at blistering speed with fast riff work and wah-pedal effects; even its comparatively sedate middle section, anchored by a woodwind synth ripped from The X-Files, keeps the instruments feeling busy with intricate arpeggiations and glossy bassline fills. Even the comparatively slower Shattered, which starts at a noticeably lower tempo, kicks into a more aggressive gear, with galloping drums often accented by a doubling or quadrupling of the pace.

Where other bands might retreat into reverb or fuzz to evoke the textures of dreamscapes, LONG DISTANCE CALLING veer sharply towards distinct, clear edges to every component of The Phantom Void. Almost nothing feels buried in the mix, every instrument striving simultaneously to be the main character, whether it be the aforementioned bass fills, the tricky rhythm guitar arpeggiations, the strident lead guitar swoops or those relentless drums. There’s nowhere to hide here, and the musicianship rises to the challenge, continually possessed of a dark and mechanistic intensity that rarely drops. All of these are present on early single A Secret Place, in which the lead guitar line finally wins out towards the end, finding a decent enough melody to double down on with a cheesy but effective piano reprise.

In truth, The Phantom Void shows a band as technically competent as any of their peers, but misses a spark of earworm melodic brilliance or emotional catharsis that the very best bands in the genre can hit. There are plenty of moments in the title track Phantom Void that force your attention – not least in the drums, which manage to both quote In The Air Tonight by PHIL COLLINS and bolt you upright with some unexpected triplet kicks. Its big glissando melodies and twisty minor-key work take you through the looking glass, but it struggles to stick around beyond its runtime.

The exception here is album closer Sinister Companion. It’s the same formula, but with a stronger sense of melody and pacing amid its prog textures, which share some energy with the aforementioned late 90’s DREAM THEATER. The soaring guitar line of its outro is the closest the album gets to a moment of catharsis; it’s undeniably the album’s high point.

The Phantom Void may not be one of the great post-rock albums of the decade, but that doesn’t stop it from being plenty of fun. LONG DISTANCE CALLING have enough technical brio and heft to make a record that is brimming with energy and a pace that never drags. Poorly executed post-rock of the softer variety can often fall into the trap of muddy dullness; The Phantom Void is never dull, continually hard-edged, and crystal clear in its sound and execution. Genre fans will have a great time here.

Rating: 8/10

The Phantom Void is out now via earMUSIC. 

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