I was asked to do a review for The Absence "From Your Grave" and I must say, I was very excited. I picked this album up about a month ago, as it was highly recommended by a few friends. My first impression was an At the gates rip-off, and you know, maybe it's true, but so what. What's wrong with At The Gates? NOTHING. The album opens up with a classic Swedish Melo-Death dual guitar instrumental. These guys are from Tampa. No fucking way! America is up to something, and The Absence are perfect proof of this. What stands out the most for me on this album, is the amazing playing by guitarists Patrick Pintaville and Peter Joseph. There combined performances on tracks like "From Your Grave" and "I, Deceiver" had my eyebrows raised from the start. "Summoning the Darkness," reminds me of old Arch Enemy/Carcass. It opens up with a nice arpeggio that screams METAL and has me banging my head the whole way through.
"Shattered" is a whammy-bar driven instrumental that gives every Gothenburg band a run for its money. The album closes with "Seven Demons", a six-minute track. This is the only song on the whole album I have a problem with. Jamie Stewart is a great vocalist, but it seems as though he tries to hard to actually "sing" on this song. The production on this CD is very nicely done. It has the feel of old Gothenburg metal, as if it came out ten years ago.
Erick Rutan, of Morbid Angel/Hate Eternal Fame, produced the album. If he can vouch for it, well damn it, so can I. For fans of At The Gates/Arch Enemy/The Black Dahlia Murder. Pick this album up, you will not be disappointed.
Favorite Track- "Summoning the Darkness"
Out now on METALBLADE records. 7/10
Track Listing- www.myspace.com/theabsence ( 3 Tracks available to sample)
Originally Posted by Max on Sunday, December 4 2005 9:30 PM
1.Intro
2. A Breath Beneath
3.Necropolis
4.From Your Grave
5.Heaven Ablaze
6.Summoning The Darkness
7.Shattered
8.I, Deceiver
9.My Ruin
10.Seven Demons
