The Absence

In the Fall of 2001, long time friends Patrick Pintavalle and Jamie Stewart grew tired of the stagnancy of their previous efforts with various bands and the demise of the once powerful Tampa Bay metal scene. Initially, The Absence was started as a means to exercise their love for European styled metal, especially Scandinavian. This would result in the two working together both on guitar, writing riffs and melodies. They started posting flyers at local music stores with little to no response.
After a year or more of trying to find people and getting nowhere, grind drummer Justin Grant, approached the two. The three began to rehearse immediately. With Patrick playing guitar, Jamie on vocals and Justin now on drums, they started going through old riffs that Patrick and Jamie had used two years earlier. While doing this they met with various guitarists and bassist before landing with Christopher Tolan on guitar. For the next 9-10 months, the four would begin the grueling process of getting a set together for their first show, which came in the Fall of 2002, opening for Atlanta's MASTODON.
In the spring of 2003, Patrick and Jamie found themselves with a dilemma- inner conflict within the band and distaste for the direction they were headed. The two tried their hand at a new band with Patrick's long time friends Peter Joseph on guitar and Jeramie Kling on drums. The four practiced together a few times- writing a handful of really good songs but never really went anywhere with them...at the time.
After a benefit performance with SIX FEET UNDER for Metal guitar hero James Murphy, Patrick and Jamie finally decided to officially part ways with Christopher, Justin and Chris, which left them the task of finding new members yet again. The two thought to ask Jeramie and Peter from their previous efforts to possibly join the Absence. When asked, the two responded with an almost immediate "hell yes!" The four began immediately, wasting no time, dropping all but one previous song and writing a slew of new ones.
After a month or so the band found the perfect addition to the band in Nicholas Calaci on bass guitar, thus solidifying their already devastating line up. With a new, more powerful line up, a better attitude and a blistering array of new material, the five made their come back in the Fall of 2003. This included a wave of packed shows with such national acts as CANNIBAL CORPSE, IMMOLATION, GRAVE, SIX FEET UNDER, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, NAPALM DEATH, SUPERJOINT RITUAL, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, DARK TRANQUILITY, GEORGE LYNCH, UNEARTH, NILE and STRAPPING YOUNG LAD. Finally, with a strong, solid lineup and an arsenal of new material, they entered famed MORRISOUND STUDIOS in February of 2004.
Emerging months later with their first crushing EP, the band was taking the world by force- laying waste to all in their path and carving their name in the world of melodic metal. Over the next several months the band received rave reviews for the debut EP and generated a huge buzz not only in Tampa but internationally bringing them in to the spotlight of several mainstream record labels. After thorough negotiations with both European and American labels THE ABSENCE signed with METAL BLADE RECORDS in February 2005.
The band then headed back to the studio on April 10th 2005 to record From Your Grave at Mana Studios with the now infamous metal producer Erik Rutan (Soilent Green, Into The Moat, Hate Eternal). From Your Grave shows how the Absence has matured as musicians and as a band and sees the guys playing more from the heart than ever before. “The basic theme of the album is pretty much whatever kills you, not necessarily physically, but mentally or emotionally, you just have to get over it. Rise from your mistakes. Rise “From Your Grave”; learn from your mistakes and move on to make yourself a better person and think you before you make the same mistakes,” states drummer Jeramie Kling. From Your Grave is a brutal yet melodious death metal album that is sure to be a breath of fresh air to all fans of metal who have been inundated by bland and unoriginal acts that seem to be taking over the current scene. The band not only delivers on the album but once on the stage they take command of their audience and blast them with their heavy brand of melodic death metal constantly gaining themselves new fans. The Absence is currently on tour up to the release of From Your Grave which hits stores on September 6th 2005 and will continue to tour throughout 2006.