(Special thanks to Alvie Sellmer for the assistance on this review.)

Intelligence, self-awareness, empathy, and personhood are examined on an inspiring, deep-thought-provoking release. Long Distance Calling is where Metal meets intellectual. LDC have been building a reputation for a few years now as erudite adjunct professors of the Progressive Metal/Prog Rock world. Their 2020 album, “How Do We Want to Live?” serves mostly instrumentals, with one vocal rocker and a bunch of spoken word vocal in-song interludes. With smart songwriting and some timing and structural flux as its raison d’etre, it’s often like a hybrid of Enigma and Joe Satriani - - just without the expressive and shredding lead guitar work.

There’s also a lot of David Gilmour and latter-day Pink Floyd in play here, plus some touches of Mike Oldfield, Alan Parsons, Daft Punk, Kraftwerk, Planes Mistaken For Stars, and Gary Numan. So as you can see, the genres run fast and fluid throughout, but the sound is certainly absorbable into the Metal fold. Long Distance Calling hail from Germany, but they do not fit the traditional image of German Metal: Scorpions, Kreator, Rammstein, Helloween. This is something different entirely.
Lots of philosophical musings about the nature of being - - AI or organic, of humanity, of consciousness. Fittingly, the last song opens with a re-read of Agent Smith’s famous “Humanity is a plague” soliloquy from The Matrix film. I’m not sure if the other spoken sections are original compositions; if they’re quotes, then I didn’t recognize the source material. Some may find these to be negative, cheesy distractions, but I find that they add depth and character.
There are some truly fine moments, mostly on the latter half ofthe record. “HDWWTL?” does sometimes devolve into repetition, causing it to fade from your attention, but when it returns to the fore, it returns strong. Highlight tracks are the slow-builder, “Voices,” “Immunity,” - - especially “Immunity” - - ESPECIALLY especially “Immunity,” - - “Sharing Thoughts,” “Beyond Your Limits,” “True/Negative,” and “Fall/Opportunity.” The guest cello in the latter is just divine.
Great 70s Sci-Fi throwback album cover, by the way. I want to read this pulp paperback - - or watch this movie with its big ideas and terrible special effects.