''Avoid the Light'' (German: ''Meide das Licht'') is the second studio album by the German

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

post-metal Post-metal is a music genre rooted in heavy metal but exploring approaches beyond metal conventions. It emerged in the 1990s with bands such as Neurosis and Godflesh, who transformed metal texture through experimental composition. In a way simil ...

band

Long Distance Calling In telecommunications, a long-distance call (U.S.) or trunk call (also known as a toll call in the U.K. ) is a telephone call made to a location outside a defined local calling area. Long-distance calls are typically charged a higher billing rate ...

. It was published on 24 April 2009 by

Superball Music Superball Music is a German independent record label, launched on 1 October 2007. Superball Myspace page states that Superball have attracted significant attention for bringing out Oceansize's third album '' Frames'', which was a commercial s ...

Production

Avoid the Light was the first album of the band under the new label

, coming to an end with Viva Hate Records. Upon changing to

the band recorded a demo containing the song Apparitions which would later be featured in Avoid the Light. The remaining songs of the album were written during 2008, while writing songs for the Split-EP '' 090208'' with the band Leech simultaneously.metalnews.de
Interview mit Florian Füntmann von Long Distance Calling
/ref> The album was recorded in November 2008 in Tonstudio45

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

. '' Avoid The Light was produced by'' Kurt Ebelhäuser and the band. The mastering took over Pascal Stoffels. The cover was designed by Tim Klockentiedt. The vocals on the song "The Nearing Grave" were done by guest vocalist

Jonas Renkse Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one of ...

of the Swedish band

Katatonia Katatonia are a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only project for the duo, as an outlet for the band's love of death metal. Increasing popularity led them to ...

, who also wrote the lyrics for the song.

Background

The album title comes from a song by

Pantera Pantera () is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas formed in 1981, and currently comprised of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-kn ...

for the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

of the film ''

Dracula 2000 ''Dracula 2000'' (also known internationally as ''Dracula 2001'') is a 2000 American gothic film, gothic horror film co-written and directed by Patrick Lussier and produced by Joel Soisson and Wes Craven (executive producer), and starring Gerard ...

''. The band members were looking for an album title, and overheard the song playing on a Pantera CD while they were in a hotel.metal.de
Long Distance Calling-Interview
/ref> The lack of a

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

in the song "359°" intends to represent that nothing is perfect in life. "I Know You, Stanley Milgram" is based on the

small-world phenomenon The small-world experiment comprised several experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram and other researchers examining the average path length for social networks of people in the United States. The research was groundbreaking in that it suggeste ...

by the U.S.

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

Stanley Milgram Stanley Milgram (August 15, 1933 – December 20, 1984) was an American social psychologist, best known for his controversial experiments on obedience conducted in the 1960s during his professorship at Yale.Blass, T. (2004). ''The Man Who Shocke ...

. The last song "Sundown Highway" was given its name by guitarist Florian Füntmann after hearing the finished song. In his opinion, the song conveys the feeling of meeting the sunset while driving on an isolated highway.

Track listing

Reception

'' Avoid the Light'' was given very good reviews by the press. Christian K of the online magazine ''Metal.de'' said in his review "musical excellence, as far as the eye can see" and scored it a nine out of ten points. For the critics of Werner Online Magazine ''in-your-face.de'', ''Avoid the Light'' "is a very refreshing approach to music as an art form." The album was described as a "small masterpiece" and awarded nine out of ten points. Some negative comments came from the reviewer Claudio of the online magazine "sleaze metal", which said "the album is too complex and demanding for daily or long-term enjoyment" for what he awarded it a 6.5 out of ten points.sleaze-metal.de
Long Distance Calling - Avoid The Light

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Long Distance Calling (band) albums Superball Music albums