Traverse

Crossing over from metal to punk might be an extreme stretch for me. Rarely do I find myself expanding to such lengths, but every once in a great while, there will be a band that does heighten my interest. Absolutist is a crust, punk, and hardcore band from Ireland. Their latest EP, Traverse, contains three tracks that travels down sludgy, hardcore, and punkish path. Sleepless Tension starts the album off with a short hectic piece to heighten the energy from the very beginning. The riffs gallop to a heavy rhythm, while the vocals shriek in a death, yet punk feel. The following track Lux is a complete turnaround, starting off with clean guitars, providing a better atmosphere, driving more emotion this time. When the distortion kicks in, the song chugs to a heavy tune, crossing through a denser muck of sludge. The final track, Traverse follows up with a slower start once again, but this time it doesn’t take long for the track to erupt into a blister of crust and punk. Though I don’t find myself liking much punk style metal bands, Absolutist was not a bad venture. They emit a heavy tone with their style of crusty, punkish sludge that kept me interested for the short duration that was their EP.