CoC : The Absence - From Your Grave : Review

The Absence - _From Your Grave_
(Metal Blade, 2005)
by: Jackie Smit (6 out of 10)

Maybe it's unfair to do so -- this is their debut record after all -- but comparing The Absence to a band like Callendish Circle, it's hard not to feel short-changed by _From Your Grave_. On one hand you have Callendish Circle's latest effort, which ironically hits the stores this month as well, fitting squarely into a similarly melodic death metal mould. Yet with subtle variations on a few tried and tested formulas, a hint of electronic experimentation and a disregard for some of the style's most overwrought clichés, the disc manages to shine among some of the best that 2005 has delivered to us thus far. At the opposite end of the spectrum there's The Absence. Adding not a shred of an original idea to any of the ten songs contained on _From Your Grave_, neither Eric Rutan's skillful production, nor indeed the band's admirable technical abilities can elevate the record beyond the ever growing legion of At the Gates clones that seem to come out of the woodwork on a nigh on weekly basis. And lest it seem as though I'm unfairly slamming _From Your Grave_: this is by no means a bad record, and it's not inconceivable that it will do a lot for a fair few listeners. But in a world where superior examples of the genre are readily available, The Absence is a band that just don't seem quite as relevant as they may have been five or ten years ago.

Contact: http://www.theabsence.com

(article published 10/10/2005)

ALBUMS
10/10/2010	A El Naby	7.5	The Absence - Enemy Unbound
10/8/2009	A El Naby	7.5	The Absence - Riders of the Plague