The Absence

Established in Tampa during 2001, the Absence emerged as a fierce standard-bearer for South Florida’s enduring thrash metal intensity, their slashing guitars, guttural vocals, and crushing percussion earning respect among devotees of the most unforgiving strains of hard rock. Vocalist Jamie Stewart and guitarist Patrick Pintavalle, both longtime figures in the local metal circuit, launched the group after concluding that the regional scene had grown stagnant and required new energy. Drawing primary influence from the rising wave of Scandinavian metal acts, the pair assembled an initial lineup that made its first appearance in 2002 by supporting Mastodon. Dissatisfied with early results, Stewart and Pintavalle recruited guitarist Peter Joseph and drummer Jeramie Kling to develop new material; though the four musicians found the collaboration satisfying, Joseph and Kling’s commitments to another project prevented full-time involvement at that stage. By 2005 the obstacles had cleared, allowing bassist Nick Calaci to join as the quintet tracked a demo that secured a deal with Metal Blade Records.

That autumn the Absence issued their debut full-length, From Your Grave, and spent the following months on the road both headlining and supporting Ion Dissonance, Entombed, Through the Eyes of the Dead, Dead to Fall, and Nuclear Assault. Returning to the studio in 2007, the band enlisted guests James Murphy of Death and Testament, Jonas Granvik of Without Grief and Edge of Sanity, and Jonas Kjellgren of Scar Symmetry and Carnal Forge—the last of whom also produced the sessions. The resulting album, Riders of the Plague, appeared in August and was promoted through the label’s 25th-anniversary package alongside Cannibal Corpse, the Black Dahlia Murder, and the Red Chord. Justin Reynolds replaced Kling the next year; a planned 2009 recording session was postponed when Reynolds suffered serious injuries in an automobile collision. Kling rejoined on drums, enabling the band to complete and release their third album, Enemy Unbound, in 2010.

Thereafter the Absence stabilized around the lineup of Stewart, Kling, Per Nilsson, Michael Joseph Leon, and Taylor Nordberg. A standalone single titled “Oceans” surfaced in 2015 to herald the fourth studio effort, A Gift for the Obsessed, which reached listeners in early 2018.