Alphabetically Reviewing My Music Collection Week 5: The Absence

Wow, can you believe it's been five weeks since we started down this musical journey of me being confused about what the heck was in my catalog? It feels like it was just a month ago.  Time flies, don't it?


Anyways, this week we're taking a look at one of my favorite melodic death metal bands - The Absence!

 I've loved this band for a long time. I actually discovered them using a site called Gnoosic. Gnoosic used to let you input three different bands that you enjoy and it would spit out an endless amount of similar bands. I say used to because it doesn't do that anymore. Somewhere along the line it became filled with Spotify promotions and randomly misgenred recommendations. But before it went to shit, it recommended me this band countless times. I inevitably had to listen to them. And that was no mistake. 


This is going to be more an album review since I only own their album Riders of the Plague.

Riders of the Plague

© Metal Blade Records

Right off of the bat, these boys are roaring, pounding and riffing. I love the chorus. The softer tone is a perfect refrain from the heavy ass verses. Then we breakdown into a beautiful solo. With a voice like glass, the vocalist introduces us to the tale of the Riders of the Plague. The last fuckers on the Earth when it's been rotted down to its bare bones. And then it all abruptly ends. No fadeout. It just ends. This song starts up loud as fuck and then it ends in silence. The lyrics are wonderful. That chorus was shredtastic. The drums were pounding. This song is a 9/10. Why not 10/10? It should've been longer.

Dead and Gone 

This one doesn;t start off as hard as Riders of the Plague. But it starts off with a catchy ass riff that you just gotta headbang to. This is where I admit that I have no clue what the fuck these guys are singing about. The lyrics sound like the words of a sadistic Lovecraftian entity as he devours a planet.  But the hook is "I am now dead and gone." Which doesn't exactly line up with the rest of the lyrics. But it's badass, so who gives a fuck. And I know I've talked about funky ass breakdowns but this song's breakdown may possibly be the best in all of melodeath. 

© Steven Crowder

The Murder

The Murder kicks off with a very interesting acoustic/banjo solo. Then things kick off hard. That intro riff underscores everything throughout. In fact, even the breakdown doesn't deviate too far from the same melody. The solo is a bit more subdued than usual. But buddy still makes his guitar talk. The track ends off with some layered high-screams and growls. I like this track but it kind of feels a bit low energy compared to the last two. It lyrically continues the theme of a group of demoniacs laying waste to a devastated earth. Which I find badass.

Echos

This track picks it up. From the riffing to the chorus to the lyrics it has more of a melancholic feel it. From what I can tell it's about how time passes by so fastly it can feel like a destructive force. And these boys emphasize that shit by ending the song with a brutal "Only one second to live!" I can definitely see why it doesn't shred as hard. It's more of a contemplative ballad. 

World Divides

Fuck yes! This sumbitch shreds like a butcher right out of the grates. The guitar tone is crispy as fuck. The strumming sounds like a fucking air raid siren! The vocalist legit sounds like he has a throat full of glass on this one! With every "World divides!", you can just picture a massive battle, two sides smashing against each other, ripping each other to shreds. About three minutes in there's a badass breakdown and the guitarist starts sweeping like an overpaid janitor. This song is the epic of the album. If this album is a disaster movie, this song is the scene where everything hits the fan and the apocalypse kicks off! 

Prosperity

This one kicks off with the two guitarists showing off their chops. My favorite thing about great guitar players like Satriani and Buckethead is that they don't need any vocals to tell a tale. This bad boy winds up and down the emotional spectrum. I don't know how, but this track definitely reflects the title. It feels like the backing track to a hero's taxing yet successful journey. 

Awakening

This song shreds and it probably has the most badass lyrics on the album so far. The Riders are still marching through destroying everything but in the name of the 'Awakening.' It's somewhat ambiguous which makes it slightly more badass in my book. The guitars are really fucking good. The breakdown pounds hard. The solo is shorter than usual but it's all over the fretboard.  

The Merciless 

These guys are geniuses at naming because this has been the most brutal track, thus far. Have you ever heard the phrase, "The meek shall inherit the Earth?" Well, fuck that. This song says they're going to be slaughtered like pigs as they beg for their lives. Metal as fuck. 

On top of the unforgiving lyrics, this song has all the usual turned up to 11. The drums are pounding like a motherfucker. There's a fifty-second guitar intro. The vocalist is screeching like an orc captain. There's a growled refrain during the chorus. Everything about this song screams brutal. 

And oh my god, they let the guitarist actually solo-solo this time. Like it's only him and the drummer for ten seconds straight and it's crispy as fuck. 

Into the Pit

Alright, it's time to get your ass into that pit. In fact, if you're not in by the end of the first verse, I'm shoving you in, myself.

Don't make me do it.

I  kid. No, they didn't actually write a song about moshing. But that would be badass, wouldn't it? This song is actually about how the world is inevitably headed into a pit, and how everyone good or bad, is going to die in the fall. A it preachy for my taste. The song is also a bit too hardcore-sounding for my tastes. This track sounds a lot more like Hatebreed than the rest of the album. It even has the gang vocals screaming "Into the Pit." When the hell did I start listening to Pro-Pain?

Editor's Note: Apparently, this is a Testament cover. Go figure.

The Victorious Dead

Ah, the track that got me into these boys. Pure melodeath. That fade in from the fuzzy effect in the beginning always gets me. And I've said it before, but I'll say it again but the Absence are the kings of breakdowns. I also love that split second of silence between the breakdown and that last chorus. It's like they're giving you a split second to process the guitar wizardry you've just witnessed. Something  easy to miss is the way they split that last riff across the two channels (something Kataklysm can probably patent.) This track is four minutes of pure fucking fun, I'll tell you that.

Outro

This is the end. And the guitarists are waving us goodbye with some more of their signature sweeping solos. The drummer jumped in too with some of the loudest blast beats on the album. (Which is kind of confusing, but okay.) And you may be wondering why this track is seven minutes long. I don't want to spoil anything so skip six minutes in for a laugh.

Final Verdict / What Do I Think? 

These bros shred. I listened to some of their older songs (From Your Grave is going in my cart as soon as I finish this review), and I got caught up in a whirlwind of their new releases. The Absence are a badass melodeath band and melodeath is one of my favorite genres, so I know damn well I'm going to be checking out some more of their shit. Hands down, these boys are amazing at what they do. But I will admit, that they do have a very particular sound. That melodic death metal sound with a splash of speed and black metal thrown in. And after a while, all of their songs start to sound the same. Which is awesome if you're down to just jam out for a few hours. I wouldn't dare call the Absence generic amongst all the shittons of Amon Amarth, and In Flames clones that exist. They're badass enough for me to call them one of my favorite melodeath bands. But they're not varied enough for me to call them one of my favorite bands.



Next week, underground German thrash band Accu§er!

It's going to be a doozy...

The Absence and Accu§er Pictures © 2019 Metal Blade Records 

Circle Pit Picture © 2012 Cheezburger