Band:	Blindead
Album:	Absence
Style:	Post-metal, Progressive metal
Release date:	October 2013

01. a3
02. b6
03. s1
04. e5
05. n4
06. c7
07. e2
08. a7bsence

This year I've been convinced that some Polish metal musicians and their associates must also be wizards. The latest major releases from Riverside and, in this case, Blindead display excellence of production values which I can only describe as something magical or seemingly impossible, as both these bands recordings have come to us in an impeccable packaging of sound. The quality here is superb.

The thing fans will note first of all about Absence is that it is a significant change in the band's metal path. As I've discovered from listening to their music, attempting to pin down the sound of Blindead to one particular genre is not an easy task. Such is a clear mark of the band's ingenuity; an album like Absence "genre-hops" from post-metal, progressive metal, doom metal and alternative metal in such a way that it makes it increasingly difficult for me, the listener, to place as a collective whole. But what's most important is that it works; its flowing sequences are uninhibited by all this genre blurring and so smoothly are all of its layers aligned that all of these concerns fly out of the window in a whirlwind of emotions.

For a band that takes this approach and aims to write such emotionally tangible music, a change of face or an alteration of sound can be a disconcerting experience. Such is to threaten lost connections and an uncomfortable unfamiliarity to a fan's eager ear as we come to hold certain expectations which might leave us wanting when a band veers off in an unexpected direction.

The previous poignant instalment of sound in Affliction XXIX II MXMVI was a punishing and absorbing kind of post doom metal, which can also be described as a rather progressive rendition of a doom and sludge metal mix with its challenging theme bolstered by the scarring impression of the music itself. I suppose the best way to describe the change witnessed with this new album is a move away from the clearly expressed abrasiveness of the past to something deliberately acclimatising but no less thought provoking. Absence may be something brand new altogether, however it is brought to you by the same familiar face of Blindead, only this time behind such a face lies fresh and alternative thoughts.

This is a face that exudes a confidence of expression; no matter which thoughts they may be having you can rest assured that these very thoughts, once put into music, will speak of a mature and developed sound. So what exactly are Blindead thinking with their new effort? While I'm not psychic I think it's pretty clear that they are opting for a more widely appreciable sound; something guaranteed to catch the attention of a broader variety of musical tastes than ever before.

But it would be foolish to suggest that they are selling their souls with Absence. While the sound is softer and lacks the prior dense and intense impressions of doom, it absorbs the listener with its multiple and cooperative components. The music flows at once through varied contours as each of its layers of electronic and atmospheric sound effects, brass and string instruments, intertwining guitar lines and throbbing press of drums and additional percussion work to support one feature in particular, the vocals. Zwoliński takes a cleaner and less aggressive approach with his delivery here and such a stance makes his presence a clear focal point throughout the album. In equal measure his temperament often reminds me of Katatonia's Jonas Renkse and the aforementioned Riverside's Mariusz Duda, stylistically though he is his own man.

Noticeably the post-metal to this album comes in stints; tracks like "n4" opening in an industrial traverse before reaching softer post-rock regions, and the metallic edge presses through the melodic "e2." Clear marks of the post-metal genre are left, but they take form within an album which at its surface seems to only fleetingly borrow into said genre and its rhythms and tempos are identifiable with alternative metal and the likes of Tool more-so than, say, Cult Of Luna.

Absence is undoubtedly Blindead's most accomplished record in terms of production and the quality of composition holds strong. The change in sound is at once refreshing as much as it is challenging to the expectations of fans, but I'll leave that to their discretion. For those unfamiliar with the band's discography, this new album represents the best point of entry.