Florida’s THE ABSENCE came onto the scene in 2005 with their crushing Metal Blade Records debut, “From Your Grave.” The album and its two follow-ups, 2007’s “Riders of the Plague” and 2010’s “Enemy Unbound,” showcased the perfect mixture of heart-wrenching melodies and skull-pounding aggression, truly making them one of the premiere bands of the melodic death metal scene. THE ABSENCE further ensconced their reputation via several tours supporting some of the biggest names in metal, including Cannibal Corpse, The Black Dahlia Murder, Goatwhore, Kataklysm, Destruction and Entombed. And then they seemingly disappeared. Despite some setbacks in personnel and for some band members a desire to explore new terrain recording/performing with additional groups or working in related fields producing or handling live sound/tour managing for others, THE ABSENCE was merely put on hold waiting for the right time to return. Last year, the regrouped outfit of singer Jamie Stewart, drummer Jeramie Kling (Infernaeon, Necromancing The Stone) and bassist Mike Leon (Soulfly, ex-Havok, ex-Arsis), along with the addition of celebrated guitar duo Joey Concepcion (Jasta, Armageddon) and Taylor Nordberg (Soilwork, Ribspreader), teased fans with the face-melting “Septic Testament.” The reaction was phenomenal and motivated the band to continue writing and recording the epic return and be absent from the scene no more.
