CD Title: End of the Apostate
Year: 2008
Website: myspace.com/absenceofthesacred
MySpace: myspace.com/absenceofthesacred
Label: None
Featured on: Loucifer Speaks Exclusive
Rating: 10 / 10
More Links: Please feel free to discuss Absence of the Sacred in their own thread on the Loucifer Speaks forum, "Atrocities That Birthed Abominations" review.
Absence of the Sacred are my new favourite band. Admittedly, I do have a lot of favourite bands, but don't let that take anything away from the fact that AOTS are bloody awesome. Since I reviewed their previous album, "Atrocities That Birthed Abominations", last week, "Era of the Apostate" replaced it as my main material when travelling to and from work.
At first I was concerned that AOTS wouldn't be able to match the standard that they set themselves with "Atrocities...", but with this album they have managed to beat any of those doubts into submission and, in some places, they've completely surpassed the quality of the previous album. AOTS may not be a huge name in Extreme Metal, but they have certainly proved that they should be.
Every part of this album seems to have been set to reach it's optimum potential. Nothing has been left to chance and each tempo change, each vocal and each melody has, in my opinion, been meticulously planned to give the listener the best listening experience possible. With that said, the album still manages to give off an air of spontaneity - and remains fresh and exciting no matter how many times I've listened to it. Will it turn out to be a classic and withstand the test of time? I guess we'll just have to wait a few decades and see if I still feel as passionate about it as I do now.
So, is there anything wrong with it? I honestly can't find a single thing - and believe me, I've tried. I often try to give balanced reviews to give you a decent and honest idea of what an album is like, but in this case I can't find any negative points whatsoever. This isn't because the band is bribing me, or have brainwashed me. The only explanation is that this album is so damn addictive. I suppose that if forced to find an issue with this album I would say that not every aspect of it is 100% original. But, I don't want to say that... basically because that's the case with pretty much every album released in the last decade.
If you only listen to one track from "Era of the Apostate" then I'd recommend "These Hollow Graves" - my favourite track here. It's aggressive yet melodic and it has excellent guitar tone at the beginning.
I have no choice but to give this album the full 10/10. The problem AOTS have now is living up to this with any forthcoming releases and matching it live.