Review: Absolva – Justice

Rocksector Records (May 16^th, 2025)

Reviewer – Jason Hopper

Absolva hail from Manchester, UK and have been around for thirteen years, releasing six prior albums and have now presented the world with ‘Justice‘, an album inspired by the early 90s film Tombstone, although I only got that sense of attachment from the album’s title track. With the band being new to my ears, I was intrigued by the lead single enough to give it a go.

I heard said lead single, ‘Find My Identity’, and knew I had to check it out based solely on the fact it contained the vocals of Ronnie Romero, who elevates everything he sings on. While I knew this would be a guest vocalist-type project, I was disappointed to find that he only sings one song on this release. With that said, the song is terrific. Guitarist Luke Appleton is all over the fretboard, noodling in all the right ways to construct a melody that never becomes routine and kept me smiling the whole time. Would have liked to have more of Ronnie on the album, but the other guest vocalists (for the most part) do a great job. 

The opening track takes off like a shot, with the metallic ‘Freedom and Glory’. Speed mixed with dynamic tempo changes and it’s riding into battle, take no prisoners approach is fabulous, reminding me a bit of Avantasia with its boldness and dynamics. With that said, it’s a bit of an outlier and I was hoping to hear more tracks like this.

That’s not to say I was disappointed. On the contrary, there are some wonderful tunes on this release. Track 2’s ‘The Thrill of the Chase’ has my favorite melody line and riff. It has an old school Ratt/L.A. Guns feel to it, making it a style that is right up my alley.

I love the little surprises found throughout, in particular the terrific guitar solos. ‘The City is Burning’, with its old school Dokken vibe, has a superb solo that sounds traditional, but the band suddenly stops playing at one point and lets Luke tap away with an impressive finger tapping maelstrom that made me rewind the song just to hear that solo again. ‘Against the Odds of Time’ is multi-layered and throws in a not-so-subtle reference to Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song in the solo section.

I can’t help but wonder why this album has so many guest vocalists. Perhaps it’s a marketing ploy, as singer Christopher Appleton does an admirable job with half the album where he is featured as the lead. He channels an Andi Deris vibe on ‘The Streetfighters of Blackford Bridge’ so much you would be forgiven if you thought it was an unreleased Helloween track.  While he is far from an Andi Deris clone, he does carry similar vocal traits.

I could have done without one guest vocalist. Blaze Bayley will never be my cup of tea and taints any song he is a part of. With ‘Atlas (War Between the Gods), what could have been a strong, mid-tempo battle cry of a track is a missed opportunity with his voice grating on my eardrums.  

Take Avantasia and Helloween, throw them in a blender and you get a band like Absolva.  Perhaps this is the result of having recently reviewed both of those bands lately, but that’s the feeling I got from several playthroughs. If you love either of those bands, or just well-constructed metal tracks with a variety of interesting tempo changes, then you will absolutely dig this band.

Track list:

1. Freedom and Glory feat. David Marcelis
2. The Thrill of the Chase
3. Against the Odds of Time feat. Stu Block
4. Hero In Your Life
5. Justice feat. David Marcelis
6. Find My Identity feat. Ronnie Romero
7. The City Is Burning
8. Atlas (War Between the Gods) feat. Blaze Bayley
9. Left Behind
10. The Streetfighters of Blackford Bridge

Web Links:

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