 |
|
September 7, 2008 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
THE ABSENCE - From Your Grave
Metal Blade (2005) |
8.5/10 |
|
|
|
|
|
01. Intro
02. A Breath Beneath
03. Necropolis
04. From your Grave
05. Heaven Ablaze
06. Summoning The Darkness
07. Shattered
08. I, Deceiver
09. My Ruin
10. Seven Demons
|
|
Upon the first listen of this disc, you'd think that this is something straight out of Sweden, Norway, or even Finland. Its distinct Scandinavian sound will undoubtedly lead you to believe that it is such, but don’t be fooled that easily. THE ABSENCE are not from anywhere near Europe. No, surprisingly enough, these guys hail from the sunny waterfront gem of Tampa Bay, Florida. An American band playing European-styled Metal?!?! You got it! Let the truth be told that this talented quintet know their brand of choice well, and they play it with cast iron balls and an unparalleled amount of no-hold-barred, in-your-face intensity.
On this, their debut album, entitled "From Your Grave", THE ABSENCE (Jamie Stewart - vocals, Patrick Pintavalle - guitar, Peter Joseph - guitar, Nicholas Calaci - bass, Jeramie Kling - drums) express their true love of European (particularly Scandinavian-bred) Metal in every possible way. Their music, their band logo, the cover artwork… heck even their look is distinctly Euro Metal; much like something ala AT THE GATES, IN FLAMES, etc. But the most important thing here is the music itself, which is nothing short of impressive. THE ABSENCE have dealt 10 solid tracks constructed with authentic Melodic Death framework, catchy rhythms and neck-snapping speed. All of the tracks contained herein flow together nicely and basically stick to the same theme throughout. Stewart shows off his obvious screaming capabilities everywhere, and both Calaci and Kling create a solid foundation for the team of Pintavalle and Joseph. To top it off, Erik Rutan (HATE ETERNAL, ex-MORBID ANGEL) co-produced the album so how can you go wrong? Basically everything Rutan has his hands in turns to gold.
After the minute-and-a-half instrumental intro, "A Breath Beneath" builds into a traditional thrasher, displaying the first taste of the aforementioned intensity. The guitar sound is very reminiscent of early IN FLAMES, which is a welcomed return to that familiar style. "Necropolis" follows suit with much of the same, doubling in speed as it reaches the threshold and morphs into yet another head-banging thrash fest. The time change at the two-minute mark is nice; lots of dueling melodic guitar work executed gracefully by Pintavalle and Joseph. The all-guitar instrumental, "Shattered", is a nice surprise as well, serving as the only slow track on the entire album. Title track, "From Your Grave", sees the band paying homage to their Scandinavian influences in fine form, as do other crushers like "Summoning The Darkness", "I Deceiver", "My Ruin", and closer "Seven Demons".
So, are THE ABSENCE yet another carbon-copy band of the same nature? No. Is their style similar to that of their Scandinavian counterparts? Maybe, but who cares? They're doing what they love and that's what matters. These guys have what it takes (and the guts) to speed up the flow of this style of Metal in North America. Will more American bands follow them? Time will tell. Make no mistake about it, THE ABSENCE have offered up a worthy slab of Metal with "From Your Grave". It's about time Metal Blade recruit some talent like this to diversify their roster. They have a viable winner on their hands here, that's for sure.
|
|
|
|
