Blaze of Sorrow - Absentia (Digipak CD)

Comprising seven songs in a taut 'n' tight 44 minutes, Absentia bursts into being with a brilliance that's blanching to behold. Undeniably emotional as ever, it's immediately apparent, however, that BLAZE OF SORROW are operating on a different wavelength on Absentia. Their windswept, cascading black metal is undoubtedly melancholic at heart - their moniker was well chosen, after all - but the range of textures and sensations across this sixth album encompass a far broader spectrum than most usually associated with "black metal." Laced within the deepest heart of Absentia is an aching nostalgia, a bittersweet wistfulness, and even rays of hope: doomed they may be, but delivered with an indeed-blazing passion that puts BLAZE OF SORROW into a rarefied field. Which is to say nothing of the utterly cathartic lead work here, buttressed by frequent detours into plaintive acoustic territory; shredded and shredding, these leads are immediately memorable and long-lasting, well after the final notes of Absentia have rung out across the soul.