Winners of the 2007 Wacken Metal Battle, hailing Luxemburg, having formed way back in 2001. In their home country there is a big buzz about these chaps, so what of this listener?
From the opening track ‘Democadencia’ it becomes apparent that they love Sepultura between their Chaos AD and Roots period, with many a Fear Factory, early Machine Head and Disturbed ambience thrown into the mix. Whilst I did not find this stuff inspiring when it was released, because its been long gone for a while now in my collection, it make it interesting the hear Absent Rapture’s take on these styles. The first track that really makes me want to take notice is ‘The Void’, more of an upbeat number with more of a mix of styles than a one dimensional “jump da fuck up” synopsis. ‘Primal Sin Crisis’ brings more dynamics to the album and has the balls to have little rest bites with separate drum and bass fills, whilst the main riff does make you feel you could nod your head in appreciation. The solo is blistering and proficient, whilst maintaining the integrity of the song. It does however lose the plot as time goes by but then the vocals and rhythm brings us back on track. Dritt’s vocals are powerful and to the point, I do like his voice, whilst the other players in this game are a cohesive unit of masterful songwriters and the execution cannot be faulted. ‘Rejections’ would have any latter day Arch Enemy fan jumping for joy during the verses, although the chorus quickly blends into a mid-career Korn track of all things, I think the track was ‘Got the Life’, because it has a similar drum and rhythm sound with a similar vocal phrasing. The many breakdowns during this album also back up this observation for me, whilst ‘Carpe Noctem’ brandishes vocal similarities to Disturbed’s vocalist.
One the whole it’s an interesting listen, but certainly not unique, if you can live with the so-called “Nu-metal” influences. There are plenty of dynamics and good song structures once you get underneath the initial sting in the tail. I am but one man, you should take a chance for yourself.
http://www.myspace.com/abstractrapture
http://www.maddening-media.de
