ALBUM REVIEW: Holding Absence – Holding Absence

The theme of love is one that has been covered to death within music. It is arguably the most common theme to sing about, after, well, death and loss. HOLDING ABSENCE have been making waves within the music scene for the past few years now with their brand of melancholic post hardcore that has been touching the masses since their inception. Growing and evolving with incredible live shows and releasing more singles, the welsh troupe are finally set to drop their self titled debut. You should probably have some tissues ready for this one.

For anyone who has seen the band live before, the opening Perish should sound welcoming and familiar. The wall of noise that the group have made their trademark immediately opens the album with cavernous drums and the clear hardcore influence HOLDING ABSENCE wears on it’s sleeve. Quickly we are shown just how talented the group are at penning massive choruses that invoke huge emotions, thanks entirely down to the frankly incredible vocal work of Lucas Woodland. On the following Your Love, hearing him scream “Your love has ruined my life!” is enough to fill the eyes like wells, given the immense sincerity in the vocal delivery.

You Are Everything stands as the shining example of just how brilliant HOLDING ABSENCE can be. The pace of the song is perfect, and it all unravels like a revealing tapestry of Woodland expressing the pride, and detriments, of investing time and effort into your dreams and relationships. The emotional weight of Holding Absence is its greatest strength.

Things are not perfect though, despite the sheer quality that fills most of this record. One of the biggest takeaways is just how much Woodland carries the band throughout the album. Lead single Like A Shadow is a repetitive affair that only works as well as it does because of the impassioned delivery during the chorus, and it’s frustrating when other singles like Monochrome prove the band to be skilled at writing simple structures that don’t feel circular. The previous Marigold goes a long way to put Like A Shadow to shame as well. Stripped back pianos in the middle of the album feel cliche and like a tick box needed to be filled, but the pacing of the album helps welcome this soft, mid album break and even amplify it.

Holding Absence benefits tremendously from a sense of purposeful creation. Every song on the album, even if it feels to be sub-par from the other track listing, is played with such passion and vigour it’s impossible not to feel something. The album rips emotions from its listener, despite a sound that without the vocal power of Woodland wouldn’t hit the lofty highs the album does. There are moments of amazing clarity from the band in amongst the ethereal atmospheres, like the far more thunderous To Fall Asleep. Huge drums start off the song before opening up further and proving how grandiose HOLDING ABSENCE can be.

Holding Absence is an emotional experience, and one that feels to disappear in the blink of an eye. The album flows so beautifully thanks to the consistent atmospheres, but there remains a repetition in the music that is offset by the powerhouse vocals of Lucas Woodland. There is an unbelievable amount of potential in HOLDING ABSENCE to transcend even the highest of glass ceilings, and this is just the beginning. This is the start of HOLDING ABSENCE.

Rating: 8/10

Holding Absence is out now via SharpTone Records. 

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