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AN ABSENCE OF EMPATHY

Frameshift

Progressive Metal


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Frameshift An Absence Of Empathy album cover
2.89 | 42 ratings | 10 reviews | 17% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

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Studio Album, released in 2005

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Human Grain (An Absence Of Empathy) - 4:41
2. Just One More (Murder I - Serial Killer) - 5:49
3. Miseducation (Violence in Schools I - The Teacher) - 5:41
4. I Killed You (Murder II - Impulse Killer) - 9:01
5. This Is Gonna Hurt (Torture I - Torturing) - 4:34
6. Push The Button (War I - Modern War / Impersonal) - 6:10
7. In An Empty Room (Rape I - The Victim) - 5:52
8. Outcast (Violence in Schools II - School Shooting) - 5:32
9. Blade (War II - Historical War / Personal) - 9:23
10. How Long Can I Resist (Rape II - The Assailant) - 6:05
11. When I Look Into My Eyes (Torture II - Being Tortured) - 5:13
12. What Kind Of Animal (Human Grain - Part II) - 5:57

Total Time: 73:58

Line-up / Musicians

- Henning Pauly / guitar, bass, banjo, warr guitar, piano, hammond B3, rhodes, synthesizer, hand percussion, additional vocals
- Sebastian Bach / lead vocals
- Eddie Marvin / drums

Guest musicians:
- Jody Ashworth / bass, vocals on "I Killed You", choir-vocals
- Matt Cash, Adam Evers, Michael Sadler, Gwen Sadler, Greck Cannon, Jesse Dutton, Shawn Gordon & Michael Donlon / choir-vocals, on "Miseducation", "Push The Button", "Blade"

Releases information

CD ProgRock Records

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
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FRAMESHIFT An Absence Of Empathy ratings distribution


2.89
(42 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(17%)
17%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(29%)
29%
Good, but non-essential (29%)
29%
Collectors/fans only (19%)
19%
Poor. Only for completionists (7%)
7%

FRAMESHIFT An Absence Of Empathy reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by hdfisch
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars I did not get crazy about the first record, I found it even boring after repeated listenings and not worth to be filed under Prog, but this one I find even worse. It might be a more hardrocking one due to the SKID ROW-singer, but for sure this kind of music can't satisfy my needs. If you like hardrock go for this one, I prefer Prog. Only for die-hard Pauly-fans, so 2 stars!
Review by TheProgtologist
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
3 stars I was anxiously awaiting the next Frameshift cd after hearing the excellent Unweaving the Rainbow and was sort of let down upon hearing that Sebastian Bach would be handling vocal duties on the next one.Henning Pauly(Chain) wanted to get away from the clean,schooled style of Labrie's singing and for his next project wanted someone with a rough,dirty delivery.He initially wanted Devin Townsend but he was busy and Pauly found Bach agreeable to the project. Like the first Frameshift cd this is not a concept album per se,with no storyline,but a series of songs revolving around the same topic.The topic here is human nature and violence. This cd features Bach on vocals,Eddie Marvin on drums and Henning Pauly on virtually everything else,including engineering and mixing.This album exceeded my expectations,Bach's voice is strong and powerful,he does quite well on the heavier songs and shines on the more melodic numbers.The music is very strong,with Pauly using alot of of electronic effects as accents.The two standout tracks are "I Killed You",with changes in tempo and melody,going from ballad like passages to experimental stuff to complex harmonies that put Bach's brutal screams under the spotlight.Fantastic synths solos permeat the song that are complemented by a terrific guitar run.The other track "Blade" is a sprawling,epic number with masterfully crafted symphonic touches. Not as good as the first but a good progressive metal album.3 stars
Review by Sean Trane
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folk
1 stars I'm not sure of how this album got into my order list from the library: I suspect one of my buddy (my jazz-mentor at that venerable institution) Marcel's stupid prank on the April's Fool, (he knows what little respect I hold for that fouled-mouth bumbling idiot Seb Bach), but nevertheless this album found its way into my living room and worse, into my deck and finally into my ears. Thanks, buddy!!! I'll getcha for that!!

So I got stuck with this unwanted piece of metal in my deck, and instead of popping it out and return to the library and make Marcel swallow it, I decided to use this piece of junk (mostly and solely because of that brain-dead Seb's presence on it) to get one more review ahead of my other buddy Eric. I wonder how that hairspray-puffed poof foul-mouthed idiotic "singer" managed to get into a progmetal album that should be well beyond his poor scope of comprehension. That mystery got resolved by looking at the credits; he only participated (very partially, most likely: maybe just two or three aligned words) to the lyrics of two tracks and nothing else. He just sang, which pauses another problem: how did he manage to rerad the lyrics. I think Gordon (the conceptor of the concept) and Pauly (the musical kingpin of the project) resolved that by doing an abject subject that was susceptible to interest whatever braincells still alive in Seb's dead brain. So the concept is rather idiotic, dealing with serial murders, school violence, impulse killers, torture, rape and other joyous recommendable subjects: as you can see, right up idiotic Seb Bach's alley.

As to the music itself, this kind of crap holds absolutely NOTHING prog whatsoever, even if it tries (and fails) a bit with choirs, concept and other gadgets, which become ridiculous on this kind of album. Musically the album is not bad, somewhere between the hair metal of Motley Crue, skidding towards mid-Metallica, oogling early Dream Theater and drooling to Queensryche (add the "¨" where you please ;-). It would seem to me that metal has moved on since the late 80's, but maybe that's just me. So to fool progheads, in order to get some kind of sales, the writing team decided to breakdown rapes, tortures and murders into two phases, the perpetrator/predator (the doer for Seb's comprehension) and the victim (the enjoyer for Seb's comprehension). How so very cool, clever, thoughtful and bright!!! How did I not think of that??? What is this piece of crap doing on such a site of ours?

This is exactly the type of album that the Mothers Of Prevention were having a case for, and unfortunately on favoured Frank did not see the day to see such abomination claiming the right of free speech. ***at the asking of a few members, a few sentences about to whom this album might appeal to were edited by the review's author***

An abject piece of crap.

PS: this review was written a few days before the Virginia Tech massacre and posted in the Archives without the writer's knowledge of it, so he makes no links between the album and the the event, but cannot help but thinking that such subject should certainly be dealt with much greater care than Mr Pauly did.

Latest members reviews

3 stars My two favorite music genres are Prog Rock and Glam Metal, in that order, and yes I know these two genres are worlds apart, but I like them for different reasons. Hence I was delighted to hear that the lead singer of my favorite Glam Metal band, Skid Row, recorded a Prog Rock album. While not a grea ... (read more)

Report this review (#446091) | Posted by St3v0 | Thursday, May 12, 2011 | Review Permanlink

3 stars This album, An Absence of Empathy was a tough one for me to get into, and still is. I've listened to it several times now and just can't catch the shift these guys take. Now, I see where they were going with this album, and I must say it is a good theme, put to somewhat decent musicianship. Howev ... (read more)

Report this review (#118104) | Posted by Xeroth | Thursday, April 12, 2007 | Review Permanlink

3 stars Absence Of Empathy, despite being tossed into the Art-Rock category, comes off as primarily a prog-metal album heavy on symphonic synth work and infused with some modern electronic effects and beats. Sebastian Bach takes over vocal duties for this release offering a stark contrast to the train ... (read more)

Report this review (#82857) | Posted by Equality 7-2521 | Wednesday, July 5, 2006 | Review Permanlink

4 stars This is one of those albums that you don't give too much credit to the first couple of times you hear it through. But after that, it gets better and better. I've listened to a lot of albums this year, and this is one of the best. That being said, the music is exceptional here. First of all, Seb ... (read more)

Report this review (#62081) | Posted by denisbito | Wednesday, December 28, 2005 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Great CD! I must admit that I did not have any high expectations considering the rather bland previous album but I was blown away by this one. H. Pauly doesn't have to regret that James LaBrie was unble to make it, Bach does a great job, nice to have him back. The CD sounds a bit more mainst ... (read more)

Report this review (#51881) | Posted by | Saturday, October 15, 2005 | Review Permanlink

5 stars It's been a long time since I have heard a band beyond my expectations. This second album is awesome (as the first) and shows how good is the musicians' capacity of shifting from one style to another and maintaining the level. H. Pauly is really a great musician and producer; his technique is ... (read more)

Report this review (#39813) | Posted by | Tuesday, July 19, 2005 | Review Permanlink

2 stars Not a mindwhacker, as good as the first, and Sebastian's vocals are WILD (in fact it's the greatest turn on of this one) and i must emphatize HIS VOICE IN THIS ONE IS AMAZING, another thing well used are modern effects and noises, Pauling's typical. So if you like that sort of stuff and a wild ... (read more)

Report this review (#38129) | Posted by | Thursday, June 30, 2005 | Review Permanlink

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