Calling Apollo are a Welsh quintet who play melodic hard rock. They have received support from Scuzz TV, Kerrang Radio, and Upset magazine. The band will release The Great Depression: Act 1 on the 19th August, the first part of a two-part album. The album is produced by Todd Campbell (Straight Lines, Samoans) and released on their own label, Signal and the Noise Records. It follows on from their debut studio EP, ‘Hunter | Gatherer’, produced by Romesh Dodangoda (Bring Me the Horizon, Kids in Glass Houses).
In contrast to their previous EP, Calling Apollo have pushed the boat out to create an emotive album with big riffs. The first track, ‘Act 1: House of Cards’ is an eight-minute epic featuring big stadium-sized guitars, and an atmospheric piano. It sets the tone for the album, with ‘…and the High Plateau’ going from an ambient acoustic track followed by massive guitars. The musicianship is fluid, a headbanging post-hardcore riff coming towards the end of the track, while Christian James Neale’s vocals are brought out to their full potential.
Recent single ‘Clone City’ has strong vocal harmonies. The dual guitars and piano drive the track forward, and have enough catchiness to keep the listener interested.
On ‘Light the Way’ the progressive harmonics meander around the listener, however the track is dull and forgettable. The structure of soft-verse-heavy-chorus doesn’t add anything and it feels very similar to ‘…and the High Plateau’.
‘Obelisk’ is a solid track that builds up to a mid-tempo hard rock climax. This brings out the tight musicianship with thunderous, crashing drums. ‘The Wars’ sees the band utilise the ambient effects beautifully before the guitars come crashing in, with more 30 Seconds to Mars-style “wooahs”.
The Great Depression: Act 1 isn’t a perfect album, but what it does have are catchy hooks and big choruses that will get stuck in your head. If Calling Apollo can continue to write strong hooks, they could be ones to keep an eye on in the future.
Words by Ermis Madikopoulos