Thrash, Thrash, and more amazing fucking Thrash! That's what it comes down to with 'Riders Of The Plague', the sophomore album from Florida's masterful melodic death thrash outfit The Absence.

From start to pulverizing finish, 'Riders Of The Plague' is without question one of the absolute best melodic death thrash albums to NOT come from Sweden. The melodies on this album are comparable with anything that In Flames, Soilwork, and countless others have continued to impress us with, while the classic Bay Area thrash influence shines through, with a little bit of Iron Maiden thrown into the mix as well. On top of that, they've also managed to accomplish what tons of other less capable American bands have tried and subsequently failed to put together in the past......A straight ahead balls out kick ass fucking thrash album that is nothing short of an instant classick!

Despite the similarities to the throngs of scandanavian bands out there, what helps to separate The Absence from the rest is that there are no "soaring clean" vocals (or female vocals for that matter) to be found on this album. No repetitive sing along choruses (but there are most definitely more than memorable scream along choruses throughout), or "enchanting" female vocals that have become a staple for a large portion of Swedish/Scandanavian bands. Similarly, The Absence don't have the aid of 'haunting keyboards' or 'synths' to add "textures" to their already amazing sound. Nothing but sick as fuck guitar melodies.

The fact that The Absence fuses elements of classic thrash with more extreme modern elements is also a positive thing, helping to further set them apart from other bands. Vocally, Jamie Stewart sounds alot like the legendary Jeff Walker (ex-Carcass) with an acidic rasp, but adds in more guttural death vocals to keep things interesting. Guitar tone and production also play a large role, as there are already too many bands getting signed that sound like their music came straight out of 1985. The fact that The Absence completely avoids even trying to emulate that "classic" (aka Dated) sound is a very very good thing. There may be elements of it present, and the influence is obvious, but 'Riders Of The Plague' ultimately has more in common with 'Heartwork' and 'Slaughter Of The Soul' than it does with 'Bonded By Blood' or 'Kill 'Em All'. The key is PROGRESSION, not REGRESSION.

American bands have been heavily incorporating Scandanavian styles into their music for quite a few years now, with some getting a better handle on it, and ultimately having a better presentation of it. The problem with this is that it's almost all American metalcore bands that have ripped the Scandanavian style, and mixed it together with  tons of hardcore breakdowns. To make matters worse, there's hardly any lead guitarwork incorporated into basic metalcore. It's basically Nu Metal on steroids.

Fortunately for us, complex song structures, wicked guitar work and face-shredding lead work have once again reared their ugly heads and made a triumphant return on 'Riders Of The Plague', and it could't have come at a better time. It wasn't too long ago that playing a lead would be a cause for alarm, and a reason for people to steer clear of certain bands because of said incorporation of lead guitar work and the word "Heavy Metal" (or in some cases just "Metal") being attached to the band (not to mention a few Metal bands being at the center of quite a few lawsuits in the recent past). For a while there, alot of newer bands didn't want to be associated with the word "Metal".

Finally (and much to the chagrin of some of those bands who used to avoid the term), METAL is BACK with a VENGEANCE! And while the face of metal has once again changed significantly, the popularity of more extreme metal is rising exponentially. And when it comes to the sub-genre of Melodic Death Thrash, it just doesn't get any better than 'Riders Of The Plague'! This is METAL with a Capital M!!