IN ABSENTIA

The beginnings of PT's transition into metal. It's an interesting one. While the album holds many crowd and personal favourites (Blackest Eyes, Sound Of Muzak, Heartattack In A Layby, Trains) it also holds some not-so-but-still-ok tracks like Creator and Strip The Soul.

The PT sound is still evident, but this album seems to have become more of a stepping stone on their way to a more metal, darker sound as heard in Deadwing and FOABP, which has kind of tarnished In Absentia's albums a little bit for me. It's definately still listenable after 6 years (at time of writing) and many of the themes still exist today and probably will for a long time to come.

It's a good album. Bordering on great. 4 stars is right. PT really shone brighter than their previous efforts on this record but some of the tracks on here get lost in the thick of the changing sound of late 90's PT to late 00's PT.

Great: Blackest Eyes, Sound Of Muzak, Trains, Wedding Nails, Collapse The Light Into Earth, Heartattack in a Layby Good but forgotten: Lips Of Ashes, Gravity Eyelids, Prodigal, .3, The Creator Has A Mastertape, Strip The Soul.