RESOLVE(D)

This band is from the Arab peninsula, but some of the band members have some suspicious Anglo sounding names. UAE is a pretty cosmopolitan emirate and I get 2-3 recruitment enquiries from the IT industry there every week. Hence, I have my suspicions. But what the lame camel, it only music that matters here.

Absolace is not the traditional prog metal band in the world and I am not convinced they belongs in this genre. To me, this album sounds like a crossover between Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Anathema, Radiohead and Dream Theater. I am sure others will add some of the more modern bands to my list. I lost contact with that scene a decade ago. But my point is; Absolace sounds current and their vocalist is very Eddie Vedder like. He is also a superb vocalist and his name is Nadim Jamal. Note that name because he may go onto joining a bigger band in due time. The rest of the band does a more than competent job on their respective instruments.

The music is both heavy, slightly melancholic and melodic. What is sadly missing is a couple of killer tracks and those are my only gripes here. A bit own identity would be a big plus too. Absolace sounds like a band from the west coast of USA and has taken nothing from the Arab peninsula. That may be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Anyway; the quality of this album is mostly very good. But the killer tracks is missing and hence my stars. But this album puts Absolace on the world map and they should be checked out.

3.5 stars