Tacoma, Washington natives Aethereus have released their long awaited new album through The Artisan Era. It is the follow up to 2015’s Ego Futurus EP which featured Oblivion/ex-The Zenith Passage drummer Luis Martinez. Absentia is the group’s first release with new members Matt Behner on drums (ex-Fully Consumed/ex-Year of Desolation) along with Vance Bratcher (Vocalist) and Scott Hermanns (Bassist) who play in the highly praised Seattle symphonic death metal outfit The Devils of Loudon.
The group’s take on progressive death metal deftly combines elements of atmospheric death metal, ferocious technical death metal, and more overtly melodic death metal focused ends of the spectrum into a sound all their own. Aethereus cites influences ranging from Obscura, Spawn of Possession, Cynic, and Gorod which rightly shows in the ambitious and smartly crafted songs found on Absentia.
Guitarist Kyle Chapman comments on the upcoming release of Absentia
“Absentia” is loosely structured around the Kübler-Ross Five Stages of Grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance). Musically, lyrically, and conceptually, the album follows the stages of grief and describes the experience of losing a loved one and the lasting impact that person’s absence has on an individual, a group, and life as a whole. It begins in a chaotic and bombastic manner, goes into some somber places, but ultimately ends on a somewhat hopeful note.”
