album review: snowman, absence

By the time you read this, the band known as Snowman will have parted ways, their third album is now their last. Hailing from Perth, and moving to the UK soon after they created a name for themselves, Absence was created between Iceland and Britain supported by the band members who worked tirelessly to piece this together. I’m not sure if the title was chosen before they decided to disband, but it does seem fairly serendipitous.

They had already set the landscape for their sound with their second album, The Horse, the Rat and the Swan in 2008, and simply grew off that. The completely unique, raw and aggressive melting pot of genres hits you with a bang, and does require a certain amount of thought to really appreciate it. It’s noise, a lot of noise, but haunting and melodic. Absence continues on in this same feel, but you can tell there’s growth behind it, which is always welcome with bands that put out more than one record. This album is less focused on lyrics, and more on the quality of the instruments and melody. There’s chanting, and a darkness that is intriguing simply with how frightening it is.

The surf element from their second album is almost gone; it has a more ethereal feel (but remember, still haunting, see where I’m going here?) that the three singers’ blended vocals lend to it. It is awash with uncomplicated drum beats that keep it all together in entirely different ways, it seems almost impossible that it was created in different countries, the way each song rises and falls but compliments the other perfectly.

I believe this album would make a great movie soundtrack. It has beautiful elements in it – for example, the repetition of the word “hyena” on the song ‘Hyena’ which can chill you to the bone with the right headphones – that compliment a misty dawn and deserted beach. The imagery that accompanies the music is unavoidably melancholy, but happens on its own accord. It saddens me that this is the last we’ll hear of Snowman, but it’s definitely a strong record to leave us with.