Review by Michael on March 18, 2002.

Without Grief are one of the unsung hero’s of the very popular swedish melodic death movement. Starting out in the early days of the current sound, Without Grief were one of the influential metal bands to the ‘new school’ of scandinavian metal. Smooth metal guitar riffs, fast complicated drums and some great growling vocals were everything the current bands needed to perfect their own sounds. If you are looking for a head-banging good time….look no further;

“Absorbing the Ashes” was clearly a mature move from Without Grief’s last outing “Deflower”. Wisely moving away from the ‘getting stale’ aspects of their sound, this album was and still is a very current sounding piece of music. Compared to the recording quality of many other albums around the same time and within the same genre, this is very well done. The drums sound especially good for a fairy low budget recording, which this album is.

Vocally this album is metal at its best, straying away from the more well known high pitched vocals so common in Melodic Death and Black Metal, and adopting the lower more growling vocals more common in non-melodic Death. The combination is surprisingly effective over the top of the at times wonderfully melodic guitar lines.

The album is relentless in its delivery. Not a slow, ballad-like song in sight. This has its good points, but unfortunately sends Without Grief down the road of repleteness. All the songs are great songs in their own right, but more variation would have gone a long way to improving the overall impact of this album.

Bottom Line: This is a great album if you are into Melodic Death of any kind. There truly are some brilliant moments here, so if you are you there to bang your head and swing that hair around….just buy the album and be done with it.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 9
Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 7
Overall: 7

Rating: 7.6 out of 10