LONGDISTANCECALLING "Jungfernflug covers all colours of the record in ten and a half minutes. We start with the sound of a distant airplane propeller, followed by bass and drums building up over 1 one a half minutes. After that we switch over into a heavy and chaotic "toolish" part followed by a really mellow and bittersweet end. This song has definitely "no structure" but it sounds as if there were some." "Satellite Bay" is the incredible first full-length from Germany's LongDistanceCalling. It has pushed the band into the vanguard of the European post-rock movement. By flowingly shifting moods and dynamics, LongDistanceCalling is constantly pushing the boundaries of postrock with their impressive soundscapes. They maintain a mainly instrumental focus --the sole lyric on the album is created and performed by Peter Dolving [The Haunted / Bring The War Home]. With their music created in the same vein as Porcupine Tree, Isis, Tool and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, "Satellite Bay" takes the listener on a dark, cold, beautiful journey through a world in turmoil. "Satellite Bay" is released through Viva Hate Records. Words | Jan "Satellite Bay" was recorded April 2007 in under a week at "Tonmeisterei" studio in Oldenburg / Germany. Tehpra just left the studio when we arrived and we were really curious about the result. The studio is a nice place to stay, and the crew, Roland and Henner, were extremely relaxed and nice, which helped a lot for the album's atmosphere. We started recording the drums and bass live and simultaneously in one room, face to face which worked pretty well. We spent the first night watching Metallica's "Some Kind Of Monster" DVD with a couple of drinks and some fast food. After recording drums and bass we were looking for the best cabinets and amps to record the guitars. This took a few hours before we had the best set-up. We used a lot of old equipment from the Sixties and Seventies which you can hear on the album. The sound is really warm and has a lot of space in it. After recording all "normal" instruments we started to embed the electronic stuff and vocal samples. We are extremely happy with the result as even we can't really hear what's "synthy" and what's not --it's somewhere in the sound. Not too much in front and not too much in the back, I think we found the perfect balance. The only vocals on the album were recorded before we hit the studio. Peter Dolving from The Haunted recorded his vocals in the bus on the band's US tour to the pre-production recording of the song. He sent us the tracks via email and we recorded the song in the studio again with click track and put the vocals tracks into it. We love the vocals, the lyrics and the gloomy but yet beautiful atmosphere. Thanx Pete! SATALLITE BAY > On to the songs... Jungfernflug This is one of the last songs we wrote for the album. I think this song covers all colours of the record in ten and a half minutes. We start with the sound of a distant airplane propeller, followed by bass and drums building up over 1 one a half minutes. After that we switch over into a heavy and chaotic "toolish" part followed by a really mellow and bittersweet end. This song has definitely "no structure" but it sounds as if there were some. Fire In The Mountain One of the first songs we wrote with LDC. The song was already on the "Dmnstrtn" EP we put out end of 2006 in a demo version. It's one of my favourite songs as it combines a sweet melody growing more and more until it climaxes, surrounded by a cool vocal sample. If we have an "indie-song", then this is it. Aurora This song is a monster, very rhythmical and dark. It starts with a spacy guitar lick followed by a drum groove on the toms. This song has a lot of room and space. Aurora ascends very slowly and abruptly changes its direction with a tricky, heavy rhythmic riff before we fall back to the start and let it grow again until the unexpected end. Horizon The most "positive" song on the album. A little bit influenced by the rhythmic way of Dredg and maybe a little bit of The Cure in it. It's the fastest song we have done so far. You can even dance to it, haha. The Very Last Day This song is pretty old and was on the "Dmnstrtn" demo as well. It's built around an arrangement of samples and was written in one rehearsal. It's by far the darkest song on "Satellite Bay." It's about how the world is drowning and falling to pieces with a peaceful, hypnotic guitar lick descending into the end. Built Without Hands The only song with "real vocals." Peter Dolving from The Haunted helped us out on this song and we are very proud about the result. It's the heaviest song I think with a litte "White Pony" vibe in the song's atmosphere. Peter's vocals and lyrics are deeply haunting the listener. One of my faves on the album! Swallow The Water This tune starts with a electronic beat / rhythm followed by approaching drums and weird guitar work and very basic bass tunes up to the point where the song implodes / explodes to a very melancholic and almost depressively meldodic ending. Again there's the airplane propeller at the end of the song to close the circle of the album. The journey is over.