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RELEASED:: August 7, 2007
PRODUCER:
LABEL: Metal Blade Records
BAND:Patrick Pintavalle
Jamie Stewart
Jeramie Kling
Peter Joseph
Nicholas Calaci |
+
Razor-sharp riffing, straight-up metal, versatile vocals
-
Solos could be touched up, songs are a bit monotonous at first |
TRACKS:
1.Riders of the Plague (4:00) 2 Dead and Gone (5:02)
3 The Murder (5:22) 4 Echos (5:05) 5 World Divides (5:35) 6 Prosperity (4:08) 7 Untitled (0:04)
8 Awakening (5:13) 9 Merciless (6:44)
10 Into the Pit (2:47) 11 The Victorious Dead (4:16)
12 Outro (7:02) |
OVERVIEW
Melodic. Death. Done. Right. Period.
There are two types of albums that I dish out good scores to; either the band is blazing new musical ground, bending genre rules, and diversifying their sound (Mastodon, Protest the Hero, In Flames), or they’ve just gotten so good at their chosen style that they can write an album that doesn’t innovate much, but manages to capture everything good about the genre while avoiding the pitfalls younger bands habitually fall into (see All That Remains, Velvet Revolver, Black Label Society, etc).
On “Riders of the Plague”, Floridian melodic-death metallers The Absence fall squarely into the latter category. There’s nothing on this record that hasn’t been done before by bands like Dark Tranquillity (and done 10 years ago, at that), but it’s played with such a high degree of professionalism, intensity, and lack of ‘core that it immediately grabs you by the throat and demands respect while establishing The Absence as one of the best up-and—coming melodic death bands this side of the Atlantic.
SONGS
“Riders of the Plague” is an instant paint-peeling headbanger, and the vicious title track blazes through a storm of punishing drumming, razor-sharp leads, and Jamie Stewart’s throat-shredding shriek like the band only has one song to prove themselves. Even though it’s a tough act to follow, the band performs admirably on “Dead and Gone”, a cut that recalls the slower works of bands like Testament, and acoustic intro that precedes “The Murder” only makes the blastbeat-infused thrash that much better. “Echos” is probably our moodiest and most introspective track yet, almost like In Flames’ Colony-era material, but “World Divides” comes back with a speedy kick in the throat and some great layered vocals that really show off Stewart’s full range…of brutal, possessed screams, of course. Up next, we’ve got the seriously melancholy instrumental “Prosperity”, which launches directly into the searing “Awakening”, another song where the band’s thrash roots run deep. “Merciless” is another slow-burn-turns-full-throttle-thrash beatdown, and…funny we should keep mentioning the band’s thrash roots, cause up next we have an absolutely ferocious cover of Testament’s classic “Into the Pit”, and once again the Absence pull the old-school thrash sound off like they’ve been doing it since ’85. The rest of the album feels a bit slow after that, but the last 2 tracks still deliver and close out the record in a fine, long-form pair of moodier tracks.
CONCLUSION
Gothenburg-style melodic death metal has been getting a real bad rap lately, mostly cause of the stupid hardcore kids that are shamelessly aping it and throwing third-rate In Flames riffs on top of retarded tough-guy caveman riffs, but this is the real deal – 100% pure melodeath, no additives, no BS, just straight-up melodic death that you’d never expect in twenty years from a US band. The Absence have totally destroyed any notions of a sophomore slump and put out one of the most unadulterated metal albums of the year. I’m impressed.
Review
by Matt Rewinski
