ALBUM REVIEW: Absence – BVDLVD

BVDLVD brings a combination of trap metal with a UK twist that attempts to show you just how difficult it is to put him into one box. On his new album Absence, Josh Pearman certainly shows some different facets to his style but with that comes some hits and misses. There are clearly elements that will win over multiple different audiences but the sweet spot in the middle feels a bit too messy at points. 

The immediate reference point for BVDLVD is the aggressive trap music that the likes of XXXTENTACION and GHOSTEMANE used to shake up rap music in the latter half of the 2010s. With some added UK underground influence, this project can get abrasive when it wants to and that’s going to be the clear selling point for a lot of people. Tracks like Home and Who Am I capture the raw and untamed energy that made this genre so popular in filling a void in aggressive alternative music.  

It also has some of the more slacker elements that go hand-in-hand with the hardcore-leaning elements, though these can feel a little out of place compared to the relentless aggression when it’s one song after another. This style, especially when it is so in your face on tracks like Panic Attack and AVODLOM can get grating very quickly and adding rave culture into the melting pot is only going to make that more hit or miss. As stated previously, the middle ground for where every aspect of this sound is going to hit with the audience completely is a bit fuzzy. SCARLXRD, another prominent figure in the trap metal scene, has faced similar issues during his career. Is the trap or metal strong enough on its own to entice fans of either genre or does it only work together? 

In this case, they certainly need each other. That’s not to say that Absence isn’t trying to expand that but in doing so, the focus is only a bit blurrier. At times, like many projects in their vein, the album has a mixtape like quality and whilst Pearman’s personality is what binds it all together, it isn’t totally cohesive. Opening track No One Cares is a skit that sets you up for a project that doesn’t take itself too seriously and you can feel the UK influence from the jump but when compared to the ultra serious, barking in your face tracks that follow after it, it’s hard to contextualise where all the parts fit together.

That may be a draw for some people but on this occasion, Absence feels like a core idea of reinvigorating a once exciting movement with some new elements that are still finding their footing in terms of complementing one another. Fans of trap metal will get a kick out of BVDLVD and dip their toes back into this scene. There’s enough here for a good time but more to come in the future.

Rating: 6/10

Absence is set for release on September 29th via Earache Records.

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