(WormHoleDeath) 2025.
CD/digital
Black/gothic metal – UK
Abscens are a UK band that released their debut album for „WormHoleDeath“ in 2025 called „Enigma“. It is a kind of concept album or a musically filmed story about the love between two female vampires, their suffering, states, emotions, reactions…At first glance, we would say that there is an „ancient-modernized“ theme at play, which could attract a large number of curious listeners. Especially, if in the musical background we have a combination of black/gothic metal, of course dark metal, and as we delve deeper into the material itself, we will also find symphonic elements.
Abscence showed that they are a serious band, who approached the album’s theme, concept and ultimately its realization very professionally. Black and gothic metal can be a good match, as well as a winning combination, and this team tried to show that through 9 songs, offering multiple elements and paths in terms of arrangement. Judging by the black metal segments, they showed that they are close to the raw variant, as well as newer tendencies. Gothic details are more logically more focused on the atmosphere itself, while the vocals try to balance and connect the story in a relevant and as convincing way as possible. It would be very interesting to hear this band „live“, because in such a conceptual setting some things can be limited, although the material itself is worth listening to, and the fact is that it has a lot of analytical segments.
I would add that „Enigma“ can certainly be considered a successful debut.
Abscence je britanski bend, koji je tokom 2025-e objavio svoj debi album za „WormHoleDeath“, pod nazivom „Enigma“. Reč je o nekoj vrsti konceptualnog albuma, ili muzički snimljenoj priči o ljubavi između dve vampirice, njihovoj patnji, stanjima, reakcijama… Na prvi pogled, rekli bismo da je u igri „drevno-modernizovana“ tema, koja bi mogla da privuče veliki broj slušalaca. Pogotovo, ako u muzičkoj pozadini imamo kombinaciju black/gothic metala, naravno dark metala, a kako dublje zalazimo u sam materijal, pronaći ćemo i symphonic elemente.
Abscence su pokazali da su ozbiljan sastav, koji je veoma profesionalno pristupio temi, konceptu i na kraju samoj realizaciji albuma. Black metal i gothic mogu biti dobar spoj, kao i dobitna kombinacija, a ova ekipa je pokušala da to pokaže kroz 9 pesama, nudeći više elemenata i puteva u pogledu aranžmana. Sudeći po black metal segmentima, pokazali su da su bliski sirovoj varijanti, kao i novijim tendencijama. Gothic detalji su logičnije usmereni na samu atmosferu, dok vokali pokušavaju da uravnoteže i povežu priču na relevantan i što ubedljiviji način. Bilo bi veoma zanimljivo čuti ovaj bend „uživo“, jer u ovakvom konceptualnom okruženju neke stvari mogu biti ograničene, iako sam materijal je vredan slušalačke pažnje,i činjenica je da poseduje dosta analitičkih elemenata.
Dodao bih, da se „Enigma“ svakako može smatrati uspešnim debijem.
apr 14 2026
ABSCENCE – „Enigma“
(WormHoleDeath) 2025.
CD/digital
Black/gothic metal – UK
Abscens are a UK band that released their debut album for „WormHoleDeath“ in 2025 called „Enigma“. It is a kind of concept album or a musically filmed story about the love between two female vampires, their suffering, states, emotions, reactions…At first glance, we would say that there is an „ancient-modernized“ theme at play, which could attract a large number of curious listeners. Especially, if in the musical background we have a combination of black/gothic metal, of course dark metal, and as we delve deeper into the material itself, we will also find symphonic elements.
Abscence showed that they are a serious band, who approached the album’s theme, concept and ultimately its realization very professionally. Black and gothic metal can be a good match, as well as a winning combination, and this team tried to show that through 9 songs, offering multiple elements and paths in terms of arrangement. Judging by the black metal segments, they showed that they are close to the raw variant, as well as newer tendencies. Gothic details are more logically more focused on the atmosphere itself, while the vocals try to balance and connect the story in a relevant and as convincing way as possible. It would be very interesting to hear this band „live“, because in such a conceptual setting some things can be limited, although the material itself is worth listening to, and the fact is that it has a lot of analytical segments.
I would add that „Enigma“ can certainly be considered a successful debut.
wormholedeath.com
Serbian version :
Abscence je britanski bend, koji je tokom 2025-e objavio svoj debi album za „WormHoleDeath“, pod nazivom „Enigma“. Reč je o nekoj vrsti konceptualnog albuma, ili muzički snimljenoj priči o ljubavi između dve vampirice, njihovoj patnji, stanjima, reakcijama… Na prvi pogled, rekli bismo da je u igri „drevno-modernizovana“ tema, koja bi mogla da privuče veliki broj slušalaca. Pogotovo, ako u muzičkoj pozadini imamo kombinaciju black/gothic metala, naravno dark metala, a kako dublje zalazimo u sam materijal, pronaći ćemo i symphonic elemente.
Abscence su pokazali da su ozbiljan sastav, koji je veoma profesionalno pristupio temi, konceptu i na kraju samoj realizaciji albuma. Black metal i gothic mogu biti dobar spoj, kao i dobitna kombinacija, a ova ekipa je pokušala da to pokaže kroz 9 pesama, nudeći više elemenata i puteva u pogledu aranžmana. Sudeći po black metal segmentima, pokazali su da su bliski sirovoj varijanti, kao i novijim tendencijama. Gothic detalji su logičnije usmereni na samu atmosferu, dok vokali pokušavaju da uravnoteže i povežu priču na relevantan i što ubedljiviji način. Bilo bi veoma zanimljivo čuti ovaj bend „uživo“, jer u ovakvom konceptualnom okruženju neke stvari mogu biti ograničene, iako sam materijal je vredan slušalačke pažnje,i činjenica je da poseduje dosta analitičkih elemenata.
Dodao bih, da se „Enigma“ svakako može smatrati uspešnim debijem.
Objavio Branimir Lokner • International reviews • • Tags: Abscence, black/gothic metal, Branimir Lokner, Enigma, Time Machine Music, WormHoleDeath