ABSOLVA-Defiance

Rock Sector

These guys from Manchester, England are releasing their fifth CD and to make things extra special they have made it a double! If you are into the UK metal scene you might know that Absolva is more or less a continuation of the band Fury UK, as drummer Martin McNee and singer/guitarist Chris Appleton were founding members of that band. Also second guitarist Luke Appleton was in that band I believe, but you may know him also as being a member of Iced Earth, where he plays bass. And these guys have also been active as band to help out former Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bayley out on the road. So it is easy to say that these musicians are well in there and busy as hell as under their own banner they already have lined up a European tour in September. This in order to support the release of ‘Defiance’, a record that is divided in thirteen new studio tracks and eight live tracks of which some are acoustic. Value for money? Eh, absolutely!! The studio songs were recorded in the first two months of 2017 with producer Matt Elliss in the Axis studio in Doncaster. Ellis has done a fantastic job giving Absolva a kick ass powerful sound that fits the musical adventures that the band is having on this release. Whether you listen to ,,Life On The Edge’’, ,,Alarms’’, ,,Never Be The Same’’, ,,Fistful Of Hate’’, ,,Rise Again’’ or ,,Who Dares Wins’’, there is no letting up. Absolva presents you with a shattering mix between classic power heavy and melodic metal with crunching riffs, sometimes beautiful twin solos, thunder drums and a singer that is impressive throughout the whole CD. Sure, you can hear all kinds of influences in the music, most of them British as well (Maiden, Saxon, Sabbath), but it would not be fair to say that Absolva have nothing original in their music. This is a prime example of what current British metal sounds like, no holds barred and full speed ahead. Highly recommended also because the live recordings are sounding strong as well.