In our ongoing investigation of deceptive and outright fraudulent extreme metal acts, we pull the rug under a handful of established outfits that don’t even seem to bother hiding that they are after your money first, artistic integrity a distant second - an audience satisfaction not even registering. The more we pull away the blinds the more obvious these practices become. Maybe your favorite band is in here, maybe your life-long inspiration only cares about the dollars/euros you’re giving him/her? Don’t be fooled, there are plenty of honest, hard-working metal bands everywhere in the scene. It’s just that these money-hungry, artistically vacuum units make it difficult for everybody involved. These bands stopped caring, they lost the passion and fire. In short: they Sold Their Souls...
I had some material done already before the demise of Lord Belial. Some of the material was actually intended for the next Lord Belial album, but since we disbanded I changed around all of the ideas into new songs.
I don’t really consider it that much superior. But we KEPT the quality from 1st to 4th album, and that is something that is not easy to do! And I think there will come a 5th album that will kick just as much ass.
This is this Spanish band’s second release, following their 2009 debut “Heaven Still Burns”. Absentia mostly borrows ideas from orchestral-laden acts such as Agathodaimon, (latter-day) Dimmu Borgir, Cradle Of Filth, Finnugor, Old Man’s Child and the likes with a healthy dose of inspiration culled from the general symfo metal (Epica and Leaves’ Eyes, in particular) genre in its bombastic grandeur and productional savvy. The execution is exemplary and while this music could hardly be classified as remotely evil or haunting, it is executed with professionalism often lost on underground acts. The riffs are mostly of the death – and thrash variety with the regular classic metal lead/solo to further spice up the guitar work. The keyboards and synthesizers are lush, but surprisingly don’t take the lead over the guitars. The drumming is basic, fairly inconsequential and largely inobtrusive. The occasional cello and/or violin add some somberness which is too quickly abandoned. Overall “Our Bleeding Sun” is a serviceable record, but one that fails to capture exactly why this subgenre is so well-liked by many. The absence of any hateful riffing, brooding dark sections or an atmosphere of dread greatly emasculates this band’s well-intended sound. While the spirited guitar leads/solos display an honest passion and well above avarage skill set plus the obvious fact that Absentia’s music is crafted with the utmost attention to detail and flow, the rest of Absentia is rather unremarkable, daft and underwhelming. Even by genre standards “Our Bleeding Sun” fails to capture the same breadth and emotional scope that a landmark record such as Leaves’ Eyes “Vinland Saga” offered nor does it replicate Epica’s impressive combination of choirs and progressive sections that were prominent on that band’s debut “The Phantom Agony”. It sounds as if Absentia can’t decide whether they want to be a head-on symfo black metal band or a full-blown symfo metal act, period. The result is that “Our Bleeding Sun” does a bit of both, but fails to capture the separate spark of each genre it attempts to emulate. Not entirely bereft of promise Absentia’s third album might break them out of the underground or it might keep them there. Time will tell…http://www.malevolence-records.us, www.absentia.escomment itWouter 5
