by When we hear something we like, we like to say “Fuck Yeah!” And The Absence resonates hard on the title track and on “Misery Trophies.” Check out both below.
The Tampa, Forida-based heavy metal band released their fourth studio album, A Gift for the Obsessed, on March 23rd. The album is the band’s first full-length since 2010’s acclaimed Enemy Unbound (Metal Blade Records), and is the first to feature their current lineup.
Led by founding members Stewart and Jeramie Kling (drums), along with longtime bass player Mike Leon (Soulfly, Havok, Arsis), the group now features the guitar work of Joey Concepcion (Jasta, Armageddon) and Taylor Nordberg (Soilwork, Ribspreader), who made their debut on the band’s self-released digital single, “Septic Testament,” in 2016.
The album was mixed by David Castillo at Sweden’s Ghost Ward Studio (Katatonia, Opeth) and mastered by Thomas “Plec” Johansson at The Panic Room (Watain, Scar Symmetry), while the cover was created by Russian artist Stray Child.
About The Absence:
Florida’s The Absence came onto the scene in 2005 with their crushing Metal Blade Records’ debut, From Your Grave. The album, and its two successive follow-ups, 2007’s Riders of the Plague and 2010’s Enemy Unbound, showcased the perfect mixture of heart-wrenching melodies and skull-pounding aggression truly making them one of the premiere bands of the melodic death metal scene. The Absence further ensconced their reputation via several tours supporting some of the biggest names in metal. And then they seemingly disappeared.
Despite some setbacks in personnel and for some band members a desire to explore new terrain recording/performing with additional groups or working in related fields producing or handling live sound/tour managing for others, The Absence was merely put on hold waiting for the right time to return. Last year the regrouped outfit of singer Jamie Stewart, drummer Jeramie Kling and bassist Mike Leon, along with the addition of celebrated guitar duo Joey Concepcion (Jasta, Armageddon) and Taylor Nordberg (Soilwork, Ribspreader), teased fans with the face-melting “Septic Testament.” The reaction was phenomenal and motivated the band members to continue writing and recording the epic return and be absent from the scene no more.
Armed with a brand new full-length the group has signed a deal with new label M-Theory Audio, headed by former Century Media/Nuclear Blast President Marco Barbieri along with a team of friends and seasoned pros with labels like Victory, Prosthetic and Epitaph on their resumes, for an early 2018 release.
Rock Hard \m/
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