While you immediately recognise At The Gates on the previous album ‘Coffinized’, The Absence goes in an Arch Enemy direction from the very first notes of their 6th album. By that, I mean the Arch Enemy era with Johan Liiva on vocals.
This is clear in the tempo variations, the leads, and the overall song structures. Because of this, some aggression is lost, which might make listeners decide to skip this album if they are using ‘Coffinized’, as a guide.
It might be more technical and virtuoso, but I still prefer the predecessor.
