Misery Signals – “Absent Light”

So, Misery Signals is coming out with a new album. You might be like, “Whuuut? I thought they broke up or something. I haven’t heard from them in ages.” Well, guess what? You’re wrong. Despite a few lineup changes, not too unusual for the metal community, since the band’s birth in 2002, the sound of Misery Signals has stayed consistent.

The new album Absent Light opens with “A Glimmer of Hope,” where beautiful, clean guitar tones gradually crescendo in waves. Feedback introduces overdriven guitars, which continue to build. A final a cappella scream announces, “We all give up eventually,” segueing into the first single off of the album, “Luminary.” Needless to say, it’s not the most optimistic album, thematically.

My favorite aspects of this album are the groove based riffs. Unlike a lot of metal today, these riffs have a lot of melodic movement, while rhythmically taking you for an odd time signature mechanical bull ride. I enjoy listening to high energy music whilst running on the treadmill at the house of self-improvement/torture, and I got super pumped during the beginning of “Lost Relics,” which starts out with a quick kick-snare-kick-snare-kick-snare drum pattern and then suddenly after a drum fill, I nearly lost my footing with the onslaught of syncopation that follows.

This album also is ridden with amazing transitions. String arrangements and subtle synths tie together gorges of epic riffages, and there is some nasty tom drum work. The instrumental break in “Two Solitudes” is one of the moments during music where you’re waiting on the edge of your audial seat, wondering “I have no idea where this is going, but I bet there’s gonna be candy.” Clean guitar harmonics + snare rim + synth pad + glitch drums + distorted bass/synth bass = brain explosion, like in Mars Attacks, except in a good way.

Track Listing:

01. A Glimmer of Hope
02. Luminary
03. Reborn (An Execution)
04. Carrier
05. Shadows and Depth
06. Lost Relics
07. Two Solitudes
08. Departure
09. The Shallows
10. Ursa Minor
11. Everything Will Rust

Run Time: 42:42
Release Date: July 23, 2013

Check out the album ‘Absent Light’