When your head feels like a prison occupied by demons who are immersed in drugged fantasies, you want to sleep more, scream more, and try to cut away from the downsides of society. Depression is a real illness that controls and disobeys like a reckless rogue, pushing you to the brink, but then you may feel a little more in sync the next day. It comes in like little specs of dust, and sometimes it crashes in like a sandstorm. You just have to maintain honesty and cope under the strain of your own tired, often misconstrued mind.

Holding Absence is a band not just partaking in the search for solace, they’re deeply ingrained the process, building up many songs that resonate and teach us how to barge through the pain and the suffering. Their album The Noble Art Of Self-Destruction pushes the band to the limits, breaking the conventions of emo rock and dishing out tracks that tell us how the band feels and thinks.

Lead singer Lucas Woodland powers on and sings for peace when peace seems so alien to the world now. His voice of reason echoes when the guitars come in as welcomed notes. The whole album is flawless, to be completely honest, and it is one of those records that connects to wonder and darkness, and some glimmers of light.

Head Prison Blues starts the record off. Woodland screams and screams until the instrumentals soar. He describes therapy, and how his head is a prison of demonic forces and thoughts that dictate his life. It’s a powerful beginning to record full of powerful moments.

Scissors is a wonderful track, boasting well rounded instrumentals and Woodlands impactful vocals. He conveys recklessness and the dark parts of his soul as he wants the sinew to be cut away. Her Wings opens with powerful vocal work, and the emotions reach the highest level. Again, depressive notions become embedded, and Woodland describes a pretty mess, if there’s even one. The percussion is dazzling.

Holding Absence is a band on the cusp of greatness. Their work can’t be understated, and this album should be played far a wide, for the happy and the sad.

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