Aebsence is a Hungarian rock/metal band that was formed in 1995. Because of the lack of publisher interest, it took almost eight years before Aebsence was able to record their first album. The music is best described as experimental heavy rock / metal with a role for elements from Hungarian folk music. “Unusual” contains eleven songs. The song “Deep” is characterised by distorted vocals, which nevertheless retain their warmth, over a very clear and well composed piece of music. Although (or because) it reminded me a bit of the later Anathema, especially the rhythm section, this is one of my favourite tracks. The track sounds more developed than other tracks on “Unusual”. This might be the direction this band should focus on. Overall you sometimes get the feeling that there is a great melodic band hiding behind a metal curtain.

The metal tracks, especially “CountDawn” and “Brainmash” just don’t have the density they should have. The vocal qualities of Péter Budai become very clear in the beginning section of “Ultrasound”, beautiful harmonies over gentle guitar play evolving into a metal composition. “Azure” is one of the better metal tracks. I love the way the English lyrics are alternated by Hungarian sung melodies. What makes this disc special is the use of violin, flute and other characteristic Hungarian instruments. This might scare off the single-minded among us, but hey, that’s their loss. Despite the fact that there are some weaker tracks on “Unusual”, it’s very clear that this band has some potential. Take a look at their website www.aebsence.ini.hu and listen to some mp3 tracks.