Absolva's 'Fire in the Sky' - Album Review

I always enjoy covering albums by newer UK-based talent on this blog. As important as the UK has been to the development of hard rock and metal over the years, I think that it is fair to say that most of the newer big hitters in the genre come from elsewhere. Despite this, however, the UK has always had a strong rock and metal scene - which, in many ways, seems to be thriving more than ever currently. It is amazing how the attitude towards this scene has changed over the past decade or so, too. I remember discovering a number of young UK-based rock and metal bands in my teenage years - all of whom I naively thought would be the big classic rock acts of the future. Sadly, hardly any of these bands are still going now; and this is largely because in the late 2000s hardly anyone seemed to be paying attention. Fast forward to the 2020s, however, and younger bands seem to be getting more of a chance - which is great to see. Rock and metal in general has also risen in popularity again over the past decade or so, too, which has likely had a knock-on effect when it comes to the genres' newer bands finding a fanbase. It is a real shame that the bands I loved in the 2000s were not afforded the same opportunities, but it is also great to see a number of quality UK-based rock and metal bands starting to make waves. One such band that are making fans wherever they go is the Manchester-based four-piece Absolva. The band formed back in 2012, after they somewhat morphed from Fury UK - who I saw as a support act a few times in the late 2000s and early 2010s. I never really got into Fury UK, and Absolva did not seem to attach themselves to as many tours as their predecessor. As such, it was only last year that I started listening to the band properly. They were still on my radar, as they have been acting as the backing band for Blaze Bayley for a number of years - and it was due to Bayley that I finally gave Absolva a listen. I went to see Bayley live twice last year, and both times featured Absolva as the support act. As a result, I picked up a number of the band's albums - and I enjoyed the two sets of theirs that I saw. I did not know that they were working on a new album, so when Fire in the Sky was announced earlier in the year it came as a bit of a surprise. Fire in the Sky is the band's sixth studio album, and their first album since 2020's strong Side by Side. It is also their fourth album to feature the current line-up. Joining founding members frontman Chris Appleton and drummer Martin McNee throughout Fire in the Sky are guitarist Luke Appleton and bassist Karl Schramm. This four-piece has been Absolva's line-up for most of its existence, and the band have really refined their no-nonsense approach to melodic heavy metal at this point. Fire in the Sky does not really alter the band's established formula - but the songwriting is strong throughout and the band sound furious as always.

Whilst Fire in the Sky is packed with a lot of memorable metal anthems, for me it opens with one of its best offerings. Demon Tormentor really captures what Absolva are all about in my opinion. It is a song that harks back to the golden days of 1980s melodic metal, with plenty of twin guitar leads from the Appleton brothers, but also contains plenty of modern crunch. Absolva are not just a throwback, despite taking plenty of cues from the 1980s. The production and McNee's drumming style anchors the band in the modern day, and their mix of melodic heavy metal with occasional injections of thrash shines due to its mix of old and new. Much of the band's material is generally mid-paced, but Demon Tormentor ups the pace somewhat compared to the norm. It does not power away at break-neck speed, but it moves along at a brisk pace - with Chris' accessible vocal hooks driving everything. There are plenty of guitar hooks throughout, too, but this is very much a vocal-led song -with an anthemic chorus which contains something of an early Iron Maiden vibe. Chris is very much the focus throughout the album, be it due to his voice or his guitar playing. He handles the lion's share of the lead guitar here, and the lengthy solo in Demon Tormentor is very impressive - and packed full of explosive shredding. Burn Inside slows the pace a little, and goes for a crunching, groove-based approach with a prominent bass line and plenty of chugging rhythm guitar. Again, there are Iron Maiden vibes throughout the track - but the main chorus actually feels more like a throwback to the 1970s a little. The chorus feels a little less heavy than the rest of the song, with the chugging dropping away to be replaced by a harmony guitar lead, which gives it a classic rock vibe. This works well, however, and it allows the melodic chorus to really stand out when compared to the crunching groove of the rest of the track. This is pretty typical of Absolva's sound, and the band have always done a good job of mixing heaviness and melody throughout their material. Addiction is similar, but opens with a great screaming guitar lead which is backed by a busy main riff. Like Burn Inside, however, much of the song is pretty crunchy. The verses are similar, with a mid-paced groove and a relatively simple chug, but there is also more of a lead guitar presence this time - with soaring guitar leads sitting between some of the vocal lines. These help to spice the verses up, and give the song a more interesting arrangement than the simple headbanger that Burn Inside was. The highlight of Addiction for me, though, is its chorus. It is easily the most epic-sounding thing on the album to this point, and it really goes all out melodically. Chris' voice is backed by a big guitar lead throughout, and it has something of a power metal vibe without ever going over the top. It is one of the album's hookiest tracks as a result, and it is one that I imagine will work really well live.

What Does God Know? takes something of a step back, and provides a bit of respite after the opening three songs. It opens as a ballad, with some gentle guitar melodies and Chris' subtle vocals - but it soon grows somewhat as it explodes into a staccato guitar rhythm and the song's chorus. The verses throughout are gentle, reinforcing the song's ballad tendencies, while the choruses are much heavier - although heaviness-wise the song is much more laid back than anything that has come before. Whilst I prefer Absolva when they are operating at full tilt, a song like What Does God Know? shows that the band are capable of mixing things up. It would have been easy for the band to create an album full of very similar songs, but What Does God Know? allows them to showcase their arrangement skills. It still contains a great guitar solo, too! Stand Your Ground gets back to Absolva's core sound, but the song's riff is probably the fattest-sounding on the album so far. There is something Accept-like about it, and this vibe extends throughout the song's verses. The chorus is not anthemic like Accept, however, and instead goes for the band's typical melodic guitar lead approach to back up Chris' vocals. Given how crunchy the song is it might have been fun if the band had gone all-out with the Accept-isms and written a gang vocal-led chorus, but the melodic chorus opted for is probably more in-keeping with the album overall. The album's title track follows, and it returns to the hard and heavy sound of Demon Tormentor. The pace has been upped here, and the song steams along nicely with a great verse riff that seems to borrow a little from Luke's time in Iced Earth. There is certainly something of that band's riffing style throughout the verses, but this influence does not overpower the band's trademark sound - which is as rooted in Iron Maiden as ever. The second verse even goes out of its way to show this, with lots of harmony guitar leads, while the chorus is very typical of Absolva's melodic style. This is clearly another song that is made to be played live, too. There are some great wordless vocal sections which will really come alive when sung by a crowd, and the amount of guitar pyrotechnics throughout will certainly elicit a reaction. The song is another highlight for me as a result. Man for all Seasons slows the pace down a little again, but only back down to the band's usual crunching mid-pace. The main riff is packed full of groove, thanks to a prominent bass presence and McNee's double bass drumming, but the verses are much simpler - with more of a typical chug to allow the vocals to come to the fore. The style of the chorus is very typical again, but it is perhaps less hooky for me than some of the ones that came before. The highlight of the song for me, though, is a great bridge section that follows the second chorus. This part of the song contains lots of great vocal hooks - and it leads into another excellent solo packed full of guitar harmonies from the Appleton brothers.

Gallóglaigh opens with the sounds of battle, before a great riff kicks in that is very clearly influenced by Iron Maiden. I have referenced Iron Maiden a lot throughout this review, but it is clearly where Absolva take a lot of their influence from. The harmony guitars are clearly very much from Iron Maiden's sound, but overall I think Absolva are a crunchier band - although this could be down to their more modern production style. There is an instrumental break that comes about two-thirds of the way through the track which is very much Iron Maiden inspired however, and the folky sing-a-long that it leads into certainly borrows from some of Iron Maiden's more progressive pieces. Due to the heroic nature of the lyrics, the battle sounds, and the folky melodies thrown in, this song is easily the one here that is most Iron Maiden-esque - but Absolva have the talent and writing chops to pull the sound off. Historic Year is the album's longest song at just under six minutes, and it opens slowly with delicate guitar melodies and Chris' emotional vocal delivery. This vibe does not stick around for long, however, as a big riff soon kicks in and the song begins proper. This is the band's obligatory COVID-19 song, but in general they have done what Saxon did recently with their take on this topic and produced a song very much typical of their sound - rather than go for something overwrought. Historic Year still very much sounds like Absolva, and there is plenty of furious riffing throughout - as well as lots of shredded guitar leads. The chorus also goes for a really epic sound, and it just about pulls it off. Chris' vocals have real gravitas throughout it, but it would have been better, in my opinion, if the chorus was made even bigger with layers of big harmony vocals to go with the overall epic sound. Regardless, the song still works very well - and it is great to hear the band stretching their wings out during its longer runtime. Refuse to Die is somewhat the opposite of Historic Year, and it is a snappy upbeat track that brings the album to headbanging close. Perhaps the song is supposed to be the antidote to Historic Year, but it certainly sounds like the band roaring out of the gate again post-pandemic. There is a lot of double bass drumming throughout the track, and the song is packed with great riffs that fire out of the speakers - while Chris sings with real passion. The song is only just over three minutes long, but there is still a lot crammed in - with melodic guitar leads filling essentially every little gap. It is a great way to end the album, as it essentially sums up Absolva's sound in three minutes - with its hooks and energy showcasing everything that is great about the band. It caps off what, to me, is Absolva's best album to date. I have not heard all of them yet, but for me it is easily the most consistent of everything that the band has done in recent years at least. At just over 40 minutes long it really races by and the performances are electric throughout - and I hope that I get the opportunity to hear some of these songs live in the not too distant future.

The album was released on 18th February 2022 via Rocksector Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Fire in the Sky.