It's nice to see that the old Garage Band method of taking two unrelated words, and stitching them together to create a band name is alive and well. This is how you get bands with names like REVENGINE (You see, it's "Revenge" and "Engine" put together, clever huh?). While it's still an effective method of giving your band a name that makes you look different. All listeners can hope for at that point is that the music is as unique as the name is.

Now, unfortunately; I cannot say the REVENGINE sounds quite as unique as their name is. I can, however, say that their latest record "The Absence" is a solid piece of Heavy Rock worthy of attention. This Finnish Hard Rock band is new to me, and I'm impressed with their efforts on this record.

Vocalist Antti Jokiranta has a nice, solid quality to his vocals. His style has kind of a radio friendly quality to it, but it complements the instrumentation well. He's got a heavy Finnish accent, but it gives the vocals a unique quality, and isn't hard to understand. The Guitars alternate between styles quite frequently, which I thought kept the music pretty fresh. In some places it sounds like '90's Alternative Rock as in other places it is undoubtedly Heavy Metal, and fluctuates between styles smoothly (albeit frequently). The bass does a sufficient job re-enforcing the guitars, and isn't very noticeable. My only gripe about the sound is how quiet the drums are. The felt is a little undermined for me, but this is a matter of taste.

My favourite tracks on the record are "Envy" for its nice back-and-forth pace between mellow verses and heavy chorus, "Live with Yourself" for the guitar work and heaviness, and "Believe" for the mellow vibes at the beginning way to a catchy chorus and a few heavy riffs.

Some of it sounds a little bit much like radio-rock for my taste, but I still dug it overall. At 8 Tracks / 35 minutes in length; it's just right. If this album had gone to the usual 10 tracks, it might have lost a little momentum. So I'm glad they kept it reasonably short, as it make it easy to sit and listen to in one sitting without getting bored.

REVENGINE is a respectable band, and "The Absence" is a respectable album. The album goes for around 10$ on CD Baby, and I see that being a totally fair price. I do recommend grabbing this one and checking it out if you're in the mood for something a little mellower, but with a few heavy riffs. This might be just what you're looking for.