Released By : Self-Released
Release Date: Out Now!!!
Genre : Symphonic Black/Death Metal
Link : http://www.absentia.es/
Line Up:
Julian Diaz-Guitar/Vocals
David Garcia-Keyboards
Ian Alvarez-Bass
Manuel Moran-Drums
Trakcklist:
01. All This Hell
2. The End Of The Line
3. Inferno
4. Dead Winter
5. Darkest Tranquillity
6. Portrait Of A Soul
7. Is Heaven Crying
8. If Only I
9. One More Step (Away From Home)
Probably the most gleaming statement I can make about this new album from Spanish band ABSENTIA is that it really doesn’t sound like anything else I have listened to in quite a while and certainly has a unique overall feel to it. OUR BLEEDING SUN is a mix of Black Metal and Traditional Death Metal, but with a massive Symphonic touch, and also slight hints of Gothic Metal. There’s also a few modern Melodeath sounding riff sections to be found, as well as some clean female vocals.
You’d think all of this combined would make for a bit of a messy result, but ABSENTIA make it work here more often than not. There was the odd occasion where I felt that the ambition overweighed the ability, but as an overall whole I’d class the album as a success and am expecting to hear some pretty good things being said about it in the near future.
The best track on the album to use as a centre-point would probably be DARKEST TRANQUILTY, which features an almost operatic, film score vibe, while still maintaining a great Blackened Death Metal vibe, but also featuring a wailing guitar solo that has more in common with Power Metal or Melodic Metal. This sort of mish-mash occurs quite often, bringing to fruition other highlights like PORTAIT OF A SOUL, THE END OF THE LINE and IF ONLY I. A couple of tracks, namely IN HEAVEN CRYING could have done with a little less extravagance and a little more standard cohesion, but when you are attempting to genre-hop as frequently as ABSENTIA, it’s fair enough that some songs will end up sounding a little better than others.
I am happy to recommend OUR BLEEDING SUN to anybody out there that enjoys the lighter side of extreme metal. What I mean by that is that there is plenty here for fans of Blackened Death Metal and Symphonic Metal, but there’s no way this album is heavy enough to be enjoyed by those that class themselves “CVLT” or any other overly-extreme title. ABSENTIA are another band that I will be looking out for in the future, but until then I can see myself enjoying this album from time to time.
Written by Zeezee
Ratings Zeezee 8/10
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