Snowman Are Absent, Not Forgotten

It has been sad times around the SM offices whenever anyone mentions anything snow-related. Perth-via-London sinister noirists Snowman have called it a day - definitively from the horse's mouth.

But at least we have Absence, the band's third album that is released April 22nd through Dot Dash Records. Its a perfect ending to the legacy that the four piece had set for themselves. Its an interesting listen too - tracks like first single 'Hyena' seems a natural progression from last LP The Horse, The Rat And The Swan, all lurking hushed menace and intricate percussive interplay. Yet much of the album steers away from this approach - whilst still suitably brooding, with much emphasis on providing pervading atmospherics, there is a real sense of closure here, even if it proves an ambiguous one. The fact that the insanity that threatens (and often does) bubble over on tracks such as 'Seance' and yet is generally missing on Absence is more unnerving, and makes for a aural visceral experience, although the soaring vocals on 'Memory Lost' offers a haunting release. I guess that is the initial impression here - its the release of pressure that being in a band often generates, put to tape, before the whole things implodes. The band parts on amiable terms, and leave us with this trinket of thanks. A gift that is ominous as much as it is pleasurable - as only Snowman knows how to give, of course.


Here is the tracklisting:

1.Snakes & Ladders
2.Hyena
3.White Wall
4.Seance
5.Δ
6.Memory Lost
7.A Vanishing Act
8.Absence

Snowman - Hyena
Snowman - Seance