Absent In Body Land A Fantastic Debut With ‘Plague God’

Absent In Body is heavy music’s latest intercontinental supergroup, and they might just be one of the most promising ‘supergroups’ in recent years. Forming in 2017 the band consists of Amenra guitarist Mathieu J. Vandekerckhove, Neurosis’ Scott Kelly (vocals), ex-Sepultura drummer Iggor Cavalera, and Amenra frontman Colin H. Van Eeckhout (bass/vocals). This month the band launched their full length debut Plague God (via Relapse Records), which has been met with some notable coverage and has even appeared in AEW (All Elite Wrestling) Revolution PPV of all places.

Beyond this, Absent In Body has managed to slip under the radar to some extent. The band hasn’t been met with waves of hype like its colossal lineup might suggest, presumably because the project still has a lot to prove. However, after a thorough deep dive into their debut, Plague God not only lands as one of most intricate metal albums of 2022 thus far, but places Absent In Body as a band all experimental and heavy music lovers should keep close to the chest.

Right off the bat, the art direction and tone of this record are executed flawlessly. Haunting, ominous, and bordering on disturbing at times, the songs are interweaved with candidly dark lyrics centered around modern societal issues and struggles of the human condition. The Lovecraftian imagery of Plague God fits Absent In Body’s evocative eerie soundscape like no other, reaffirming that there was a clearcut vision throughout the production of this project.

With Absent In Body wielding a variety influences and sub-genre tropes, most of which float around industrial, post-metal and blackened sludge metal, there’s a considerably wide array of directions for the band to take here. However, nearly all of album’s five tracks serve as a way of introducing the listener to one of the band’s core tropes. “Rise from Ruins” is this eloquent doom-black metal inspired opener, “In Spirit in Spite” is the band’s deeper step into sampling and electronic soundscapes, and “Sarin” is more of a straight forward post-metal sludge groover reminiscent of pioneers ISIS (the band) and Neurosis.

When it come to stand out tracks every single song delivers something purposeful and unique in its own right, but let it not go without out saying that “The Acres/The Ache” absolutely steals the show on this LP. The song is the most varied and melodic of the bunch, but more importantly it fully realizes all unique styles and dynamics Absent In Body play with on prior songs. Beyond that, its climatic build up to what’s possibly the most melodic section on the album is pure goosebump inducing. I’d recommend this record to the majority of metal listeners, but all fans of experimental and heavy music owe it to themselves to at least check out this song.

That being said, if Absent In Body are to release music in the future or even a sophomore LP at some point, I can’t help but want more elements similar to “The Acres/The Ache.” Part of the payoff of this song is the fact it’s the first real instance of outright melody on the album, but the ambiance and melodic vocal writing on here is so brilliant that it’s impossible to not desire more from the band in this direction.

It also can’t go without saying just how well balanced the electronic and industrial elements are throughout Plague God. They’re never overbearing and always tastefully incorporated, to the point where every time I listened to the album I was surprised by one or more new elements I hadn’t picked up on in prior play throughs. Let it be known that for how simplistic most of the album’s song structures and instrumentation are, Plague God’s soundscape is immaculate and vastly dense.

All things considered Plague God isn’t so much a perfect album, but rather a perfect debut for a project packing such high ambitions. It’s an album that’s filled to the brim with a variety of sub-genres, dynamics, and unique song structures, and lyrically it’s honest to a point of sounding both warmly human and bleak. Absent In Body have delivered a fantastic debut with Plague God, but the future of this project as a whole is what’s most exciting.