Absolva – Justice Review
By Steel Druhm
Absolva is the long-running “home base” project of Luke Appleton (Blaze Bayley, ex-Iced Earth) and Chris Appleton (Blaze Bayley). Absolva’s biggest claim to fame is that they function as the backing band for Blaze Bayley. When not on the road with Blaze, these cats deliver NWoBHM-inspired classic metal with a strong hard rock influence. Over 6 full-length releases, they’ve shown themselves to be decent songwriters with a sound sitting somewhere between Saxon and Dokken. No Absolva album will blow your doors off, but each one is pleasant enough and easy to digest with a few notable tracks for playlist poaching. Here comes seventh album, Justice, and not much has changed for the Appleton clan. You still get middle-of-the-road traditional metal with a solid floor and a shifting ceiling as song quality moves from decent-but-generic to modestly inspiring. And as usual, you get some pretty damn awful cover art to round things out. Could Justice be the turning point where Absolva escapes the tyranny of second-fiddle status?
As with all prior output, this is solid but not exceptional melodic metal fare with a few fun flash points. Absolva strive for anthems, and on opener “Freedom and Glory,” they hit the mark, aided by vocalist David Marcelis of Lord Volture and Thorium. He provides a solid counterpoint to Chris Appleton’s workmanlike vocals, and the song packs decent energy thanks to the Appleton brothers’ guitar work. It’s a lot like classic Blaze Bayley material, and it sticks the landing. “The Thrill of the Chase” also provides enough sizzle and hooks to entertain, with a winning chorus and some smoking solos. “Against the Odds of Time” goes straight for Dark Saga-era Iced Earth and brings in former IE vocalist Stu Block to accentuate the point. It’s one of the more muscular and rabble-rousing cuts here and delivers solely on classic Iced Earth nostalgia.
Another relatively high point comes on “Find My Identity,” where Ronnie Romero (Sunstorm, The Ferrymen, ex-Rainbow, ex-Vandenburg) adds vocal fire to a very Jorn-ish piece of hard rock/metal. Blaze Bayley himself shows up to offer support for his supporting act on “Atlas (War Between the Gods)” and creates some manly, over-the-top epic metal in the process. As with every Absolva album, there are some lesser cuts that, while not bad, don’t quite hit as hard. “Hero in Your Life” marries Iron Maiden’s guitar work with a more streamlined hard rock approach, and it sort of works, but it’s fairly forgettable. The title track is pretty generic, and “The Streetfighters of Blackford Bridge” sounds like old Def Leppard, and it’s okay but not especially earwormy. Absolva’s problem is that even their better output still sits in that “Good” category, and only rarely do they manage to punch a song higher than that. When you deliver an album with a bunch of good to okay tracks and a few lesser inclusions, it doesn’t do a whole lot to excite the listener and compel repeated plays. At 45 minutes, it seems like they could have/should have chopped a song or two to make for a stronger and more consistent offering.
The band is musically capable. Both Appletons are solid guitarists and showcase some chops with impressive solos and a collection of effective, if simplistic riffs. Chris Appleton is a competent vocalist, but nothing about his delivery is especially ear-grabbing or unique, though at times he does remind me a bit of Blaze. He may be limited vocally, but so were most of the classic NWoBHM frontmen, and that isn’t a big handicap if you have killer songs. Sadly, Absolva never brings enough of those to the party, and the ones with guest vocalists end up working best, which is a worrisome sign.
Justice is a pleasant, but fairly forgettable release with a few nondescript tracks weighing it down and a few successful cuts struggling to drag it back upward, and it ends up walking the line between non-essential and solid. I always root for these guys and check out every album, but I’ve given up on expecting them to craft a truly killer release. After seven albums, this is the Absolva experience, and that’s okay. I can’t help but wish for a little more, though.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Rocksector
Websites: absolva.com | facebook.com/absolva | instagram.com/absolva
Releases Worldwide: May 16th, 2025
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