Distances - Abstruse

Angry Metal Guy 50

In 2013, I attended a concert in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with hopes of seeing Intronaut and Scale the Summit, both having released widely lauded albums Habitual Levitations and The Migration, respectively. However, because I’m a good little Hollow, I decided to stop in for the openers. The youth center in which this was played was scrawled with graffiti in the dim lighting, and the stage was a makeshift affair about a foot or less off the ground, and a row of beaten couches comprised the seating. When I was welcomed into the concert area, Albuquerque quartet (at the time) Distances came up, a band whose numbers rivaled the audience members.¹ There we stood, bobbing our heads to a post-metal sound whose colossal quality blew the roof off the shady little venue. Contrary to the Neurosis-inspired approach, there was a distinct accessible quality of the waves of sound, and after the concert I hurried home to download Distances’ 2013 album Ages.

Eleven years, two albums, and three EP’s later, we are greeted with the fifth full-length, Abstruse – and it’s business as usual. What Distances does well is forego the obscure post-metal standard set by Isis and tackle it with a Gojira-inspired groove, a honed dichotomy explored vastly in 2024. Mastermind vocalist/guitarist Karl Deubles’ Robin Staps-esque roars clash with a vicious groove that sprawls and weighs heavily, amplified by moments of placidity and post-rock clarity. There’s an urgency aboard Abstruse, and very little actively abstruse about it, rocking you like a wagon wheel with every movement and punchy riff. Distances’ offers a dense and punishing slab of post-metal and, while its front half offers better material and an identity remains a distant thought, Abstruse is worth a listen.

Abstruse by Distances

A track that exemplifies Distances’ approach and energy is “Empty Prose,” an atmospheric sprawler that steadily builds and builds. While many acts like Glassing and Wrvth would bask in this pristine atmosphere, the trembling snare begins rolling across the placidity, before crashing in with colossal riffs tinged with a sustaining guitar presence that wavers and shimmers between dissonance and beauty. This dichotomy is perhaps not as placid-leaning as I am making it sound, as tracks like “Terra Infirma” and “Ceaseless Lantern” are uncompromisingly heavy pendulum sways between sprawlingly dense Aeolian-era The Ocean and chuggy and complex Molten Husk-era Abest. Moments in tracks like “Full Circle” and “Pulp and Root” recall Eeli Helin’s chaotic post-metal project Mireplaner, injecting a mathy presence with unhinged beats and fierce panic chords. Bassist Kris Schiffer shines along plucking passages in tracks like “Terra Infirma” and “Empty Prose,” while Deubles’ shimmering guitar and vicious bellows are a force to be reckoned with.

The issue with Abstruse is its ultimately frontloaded affair. While the runtime recalls Abest in its relative brevity (most tracks aside from closer “Poison Dowry” remain in the three-minute to five-minute ballpark), Distances feels uncertain in its reliance on instrumental interludes in the back half, with tracks like “Contralateral” and “Passage” throttling the momentum and energy with subdued plucking passages that lend themselves to no particular sound or riff. Closer “Poison Dowry” is a bit of a letdown and indicator of the back half’s falling short, because of its ultimate lack of payoff. With “Passage” and “Pulp and Root” attempting a crescendo, it falls short with its energy relying on open strums rather than the infectious cutthroat brutality. Furthermore, while Distances’ music is an amalgamation of different post-metal approaches, the only uniqueness present is Deubles’ charismatic death metal-tinged vocals – a departure from the stereotypical Aaron Turner-worshiping barks and yells. Otherwise, channeling The Ocean, Abest, and Mireplaner aboard a prototype of Through Silver in Blood post-metal warrants a fun listen but rarely one that sticks.

I’m torn with Abstruse. The first half finds Distances embracing a sweet spot of post-metal hugeness with urgency and cutthroat intensity, while the second steals away into the night with a meandering instrumental approach and lack of purpose. Furthermore, the sound is largely inspired rather than unique, making Abstruse feel copied and pasted in spite of their formidable strengths. Despite this, Distances remains the band with a mammoth sound and a little audience, and that’s a goddamn shame, because tracks like “Two Thirty” and “Empty Prose” offer weight and contemplative punishment in an addictive and infectious way – deserving of far greater venues than tiny youth centers in Santa Fe.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: distances.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/distancesband
Releases Worldwide: January 19th, 2024

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