Reviewed by Gavin Hand

Instrumental variety seems to be a thing that American punk rock is lacking of late. Absolved, however, manage to bring a ton of diversity to their new album. This album is a compilation of Absolved's first full-length album, 'The Red Album', and their 2011 EP, 'This One Goes To Seven'. The band offer a full skate punk sound that is very reminiscent of bands like NOFX and Black Flag but with a few changes. The drums take on more of a classic rock style while the guitar keeps a crunchy tone throughout, only changing to a slow and more melodic tone on tracks like "This One's For The Survivors", which really adds some depth to the album. The bass guitar is not neglected in this album either, with its own melodic introduction on the track "I The Contrite" adding an approach not usually heard in this genre. The downside are the melodies with way too many of the songs using the exact same tune. This, thankfully, changes with the EP where the band cover The Misfits' "Halloween" and the singer is forced into a new melody. The album concludes with what could be seen as a spoof of country/Southern rock with the track "The Walking Dead".

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