Tracklist
1. All This Hell
2. The End of the Line
3. Inferno
4. Dead Winter
5. Darkest Tranquility
6. Portrait of a Soul
7. Is Heaven Crying
8. If Only I
9. One More Step (Away from Home)
Release Date: December 2011 – self released
When we think about spain we think of the sea, beaches, nice girls, good food and lot of sun.
But what happens to the paradise if the sun is bleeding ?
From Oviedo comes the band Absentia and their music stands against all that happy spanish feelings and so they named their new album „Our Bleeding Sun“ .And also the artwork signs the darker side of life in which we step fast forward in our present life.
Absentia describe their music as symphonic death metal. A symphony of the upcoming apocalypse ?
We will see…
A first taste offers „All this Hell“. Mighty drums and guitarlines annouce harm. Spoken growls with angel voices in the back, same like Therion in their best days. 2 dark minutes that lead over to „ The End of the Line“. Midtempo symphonic shreds and vocals of Julian Diaz that are nearer to Hypocrisy as to Dimmu Borgir. I would say that we listen here to Symphonic Black Metal with Death vocals. The song contains a lot of power, even some Immortal guitar parts to follow, and the band also absorbs a kind of refrain into the song. Unholy screams in the end proclaim that we now reached the line’s end. Great song and a real good and heavy production makes it awesome to listen.
„Inferno“ next…but it starts with a slow guitar sequence before the mighty drums appear again. It’s getting faster, raising hell. Always with symphonic keys in the background. Deep growls duels with aggressive shouts. A melodic guitar part interrupts the inferno in alliance with angels…I mean female vocals…Epica meets Satyricon. Nothing real new…but brilliant arranged and performed by a a band that knows how to work with their instruments. A growled Inferno ends it.
Cold outside ? Feel the „Dead Winter“. The start and the arrangements are near to older Dimmu Borgir. Supported by mighty background choirs. Straight song, midtempo riffing and as I told before Absentia even knows how to create death/black refrains. Another break slows the song down with acoustical elements, violins and percussion. Hateful vocals ends the harmony but a short guitar solo keeps the melodic elements. Silent violins let the song fade out.
A great guitar riff opens „Darkest Tranquility“. Solo vocals in alliance with twin back shouts brings it to another refrain. Kind of weird guitar solo, well played underlines the partly melodic character of Absentia’s music. The song varies with different arrangements that offer excitement. For me the best song so far. Stamping track in symphonic art.
Orchestral beginning together with hard guitar riffing followed by pianos paints a „Portrait of a Soul“. Pumping bass and killing drums support this all instrumental part. Hectic guitars and a hellish drum machine shows a mighty wall of sound. Pure power in a little chaotic style. Broken by a short slow acoustic/violin sequence before the song ends with straight power and choirs of heaven…or hell ? The picture of the portrait is painted.
„Is Heaven Crying“ ? Sometimes I feel like that if it is raining. The song start in best Amon Amarth ways. Again a faster song, based in black with death vocals. Less symphonic elements here…some points of piano. Double bass dums most time….and anchorman’s voice announces a pure metal solo.
Is this black viking metal ? I don’t know…but definetely Heaven is Crying !!
Traditional metal now ? „If only I“ starts like bands named Stratovarius or similiar. Whispered vocals before a hymn explodes. This could be a single hit…if there are some in this genre. Pure metal riffs meet black symphonies, Johann Hegg memorial vocals meets Peter Tägtgren . An black/death epic per excellence. Hypocrisy or Amon Amarth would not do it better.
The album ends with „One More Step (Away from Home)“. Piano together with keyboard walls transports dreamful vibes in the sound of Absentia. Does it mean that there is hope for the world ? Or does it mean that the mankind made it to be now one more step away from harmony, peace and love ? Anyway…a nice facette in the end. Hard played guitars for sure…but a dreaming instrumental
at last.
The music, the production, the artwork, the arrangements…all fits together. Sure…the vocals and music remembers sometimes less, sometimes more to the reference bands in symphonic black/death metal. Some essence of Hypocrisy here, some Amon Amarth there. But the mixture works and let „Our Bleeding Sun“ become a mighty, heavy album without too much symphonic overload.
Fans of the named bands or Dimmu Borgir, Therion and so on definetely should give that album a big listen. And even all the others should even risk an ear.
Great album !!
Points: 8/10
Review by Kerbinator