Biography
Holding Absence emerged in 2015 as a post-hardcore quartet from Cardiff, Wales, whose sound centers on pummeling percussion, striking guitar riffs, and huge choruses. The group issued its eponymous debut long-player through Sharptone in 2019, then achieved its first U.K. chart entry two years afterward with The Greatest Mistake of My Life. Personnel shifts preceded the arrival of the band’s third album, the hard-hitting and inward-looking Noble Art of Self Destruction, released in 2023.
An early configuration featured Zac Vernon, previously of Parting Gift, on vocals and Giorgio Cantarutti on rhythm guitar. By the start of 2017 the lineup had stabilized around Lucas Woodland handling vocals, Feisal El-Khazragi on guitar, James Joseph on bass, and Ashley Green on drums. That year the quartet released singles such as “Penance” and “Heaven Knows,” built a loyal regional following, and secured a deal with Sharptone Records. In 2018 they issued the split EP This Is as One alongside the British metalcore act Loathe and embarked on their first European dates outside the U.K. During the recording of their debut album El-Khazragi departed to join Loathe on bass. A nomination for Best U.K. Breakthrough Band at the Heavy Metal Awards followed, after which two guitarists were brought in: Scott Carey on lead and Chris Smitheram on rhythm. Smitheram’s tenure proved brief, and by early 2019 Carey remained the sole guitarist.
The March 2019 debut LP therefore combined material tracked across two separate sessions with two different lineups. Singles “Like a Shadow” and “Dream of Me” raised the band’s profile and drew favorable reviews. While 2019 was spent touring mainland Europe once more, 2020 proved productive in the studio and yielded the recordings that became The Greatest Mistake of My Life, which entered the U.K. charts in 2021. Prior to that release Joseph left to pursue a project with his housemate under the name James & The Cold Gun, leaving Woodland, Green, and Carey as a trio to promote the album. Benjamin Elliott subsequently joined on bass, after which the band released the split EP The Lost & the Longing with Alpha Wolf and delivered its third full-length, the dynamic and immersive The Noble Art of Self Destruction, in 2023. That record explores themes of struggle, forgiveness, and self-improvement.
An early configuration featured Zac Vernon, previously of Parting Gift, on vocals and Giorgio Cantarutti on rhythm guitar. By the start of 2017 the lineup had stabilized around Lucas Woodland handling vocals, Feisal El-Khazragi on guitar, James Joseph on bass, and Ashley Green on drums. That year the quartet released singles such as “Penance” and “Heaven Knows,” built a loyal regional following, and secured a deal with Sharptone Records. In 2018 they issued the split EP This Is as One alongside the British metalcore act Loathe and embarked on their first European dates outside the U.K. During the recording of their debut album El-Khazragi departed to join Loathe on bass. A nomination for Best U.K. Breakthrough Band at the Heavy Metal Awards followed, after which two guitarists were brought in: Scott Carey on lead and Chris Smitheram on rhythm. Smitheram’s tenure proved brief, and by early 2019 Carey remained the sole guitarist.
The March 2019 debut LP therefore combined material tracked across two separate sessions with two different lineups. Singles “Like a Shadow” and “Dream of Me” raised the band’s profile and drew favorable reviews. While 2019 was spent touring mainland Europe once more, 2020 proved productive in the studio and yielded the recordings that became The Greatest Mistake of My Life, which entered the U.K. charts in 2021. Prior to that release Joseph left to pursue a project with his housemate under the name James & The Cold Gun, leaving Woodland, Green, and Carey as a trio to promote the album. Benjamin Elliott subsequently joined on bass, after which the band released the split EP The Lost & the Longing with Alpha Wolf and delivered its third full-length, the dynamic and immersive The Noble Art of Self Destruction, in 2023. That record explores themes of struggle, forgiveness, and self-improvement.
Singles
