Tasmania—outside of their famous adorable screaming murder marsupials, I know basically nothing about the island. Recently, though, Tasmania’s The Absolution Sequence seized and held my attention with everything surrounding their debut record, Dread Cycle.1 Sublime cover art by Tasmanian artist Shaun Hyatt. Technical death metal that, according to promo, “balances high-velocity musical prowess with a deeply immersive, atmospheric undertone.” But what’s this? Three guitarists? Two drummers?!2 Is there any hope of hearing a bass guitar on this thing? How big is Dread Cycle really, and are The Absolution Sequence bad enough dudes to hold it all down? I had to know.
To address The Absolution Sequence’s qualifying trait as a tech-death band, I’ll start by stating that Dread Cycle is quite the technical feat. TAS’ three-pronged guitar attack of Stephen Cusato and Steven Mason on rhythm and Luke Tucker on lead deliver all the pressure-cooked heck you’d expect of the sub-genre, spinning busy, knotted riffs that strike and pop at odd times and angles. Hear the gnarly riffage on “This Sordid Miasma” and “Promethean Pilferage” and just soak it in. Rhythmically, drummers Nick Machin and Luke Sanderson deliver mechanically precise blasts and occasional Meshuggah kick-jank (“Ghost Mantra”) while—yes—Alastair Boon’s bass features prominently in arpeggiated leads [“Despotic Ruin (Diet of Worms)”] and popping and plucking beneath the riffs (“Diary of the Emaciated”). These dudes have chops for days, but somehow Dread Cycle is surprisingly reserved. Don’t expect Archspire-scaled showy excess with The Absolution Sequence, as Dread Cycle is the kind of layered technical showcase that’s more than happy to sneak up on you at times.
What sticks out foremost about Dread Cycle is how atmospheric and big it sounds. The Absolution Sequence regularly build these tidal waves of dissonant, discordant chords that make for eerie, cataclysmic atmospheres. Tracks like “The Nightlight Sigil” and “A Mire Caked Nativity,” even amidst it’s deeply frenetic playing, absolutely ooze dense, dreary mood. These movements of cavernous density stand in nice contrast to the typical tech-death chops heard elsewhere, offering cuts like “Despotic Ruin (Diet of Worms)” greater dynamism and balancing out “Idols of Confraternity”‘s wicked fast runs and bludgeoning chugs with simpler, harmonically rich parts. It keeps the audience from growing desensitized to the chaos, as is oft to happen in tech-death. The Absolution Sequence simply sound more focused than a lot of their peers, and with that focus comes weight. Dread Cycle doesn’t blow your mind through exceptional virtuosity but clobbers you with the enormity of its compositions.
But never does The Absolution Sequence’s technical ambitions or atmospheric inclinations ever detract from Dread Cycle’s serious bite. Delivering a varied and hostile vox attack, lead vocalist Shawn Wells drives TAS onto a warpath. Through confrontational and nasty growls on “Grinding the Sphere,” pissed-off Archspire speed spitting on “Diary of the Emaciated,” and downright (Tasmanian) devilish rasps on “Idols of Confraternity,” Wells spells out Dread Cycle’s ill-will in explicit terms. The rest of TAS match that vitriol. Their three guitarists are a restless unit, constantly finding new ways to layer airy leads over feverish riff-craft while the drumming on Dread Cycle never sacrifices punch for flair. This is tech-death of a distinctly modern bent, for sure, but there’s a timeless, plain deathly meanness to Dread Cycle that makes it cathartically heavy as well as dazzingly impressive to behold.
Dread Cycle is a true cyclone of aggression, but far more cogent and less slobbery than the one Tasmania is better known for. The Absolution Sequence found a distinct and deeply enjoyable brand of tech-death that stands out even in a crowded year for the sub-genre. It’s the kind of record that’s just hard to find negative things to say about, and one that has steadily grown on me over the time I’ve spent with it. Check out Dread Cycle if you like your shadowed treks through miasmatic realms of death thoroughly buckwild as well. You know I do.
Rating: Great
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps MP3
Labels: Bleeding Art Collective and Blood Blast Distribution
Websites: theabsolutionsequence.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/theabsolutionsequence
Releases Worldwide: August 18th, 2026
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