The Absence has been absent for a total of eight years now, sans a few intermittent singles here and there, but they're back in full force with a brand new album called A Gift For The Obsessed! The melodic death metal masters will release the album this Friday and we're streaming it front to back right now.

A Gift for The Obsessed was produced by the band's own Jeramie Kling and Taylor Nordberg at Smoke & Mirrors Studios in Tampa, FL, mixed by David Castillo at Sweden’s Ghost Ward Studio (Katatonia, Opeth) and mastered by Thomas "Plec" Johansson at The Panic Room (Watain, Scar Symmetry), while the cover was created by Russian artist Stray Child. Here's what vocalist Jamie Stewart had to say about the record.

"A Gift For the Obsessed embodies many of the dynamics that The Absence stand for as a whole: melody, brutality, speed, dexterity, cadence, etc. — a truly comprehensive and cohesive listening experience indeed! The title of the album/song refers to that very moment when any artist or creator makes something to the integral point of satisfaction — when your craft meets your obsession in furious culmination, and you are finally able to take a step back, if only for just a moment, completely fulfilled by the fruits of your artistic labor. It‘s one of the most maddening yet needed satisfactions in life — exorcism through creation."