Metalcore is such a tired and overdone genre in 2013, that lately I have heard a few bands who have resorted to pretty contrived means of doing something different with it. Almost like “let’s put a flamenco guitar section in there to make it sound different from 537 other metalcore bands out there”. It just comes off sounding a little desperate.
When a band comes along, or puts something out in the metalcore vein, but somehow manages to sound different in a completely natural, uncontrived manner, it makes you stand up and take notice. And that’s exactly what this Milwaukee, Wisconsin based five piece have done on this, their fourth album.
This is a metalcore album, no question. The vocals are very metalcore, the production is very metalcore, as are the riffs and breakdowns. But there is something different going on here, something a little indefinable. Rhythmically these guys shake things up considerably, injecting some subtle use of odd time and highly original grooves. There’s also some nice washy string effects thrown in here and there, to add even more colour to the soundscape. Then there’s the non-traditional arrangements that keep you guessing and on your toes. Maybe this is progressive metalcore?
Whatever moniker you want to throw at it, whichever box you want to put it in, these guys are doing something very right. They are taking what those aforementioned 537 other metalcore bands are doing, and thus still very much appealing to the metalcore crowd, and shaking up the formula until its teeth rattle. And it’s a joy to behold.
On top of all that, it’s damnably heavy when and where it needs to be, but also with a stronger sense of dynamics and light and shade than normally employed by metalcore acts. And of course the levels of musicianship are of the lofty standard that you might expect from a band in this scene.
Absent Light is an absolute winner, a gem. A veritable rose amidst a large garden of lookalike thorns. It is metalcore made interesting. Check it out now.
8.5/10
Reviewer: Rod Whitfield