Tampa, Florida's The Absence (Metal Blade Records) is currently in the process of writing a new album. Guitarist Patrick Pintavalle has issued the following update:

"As some of you know, we are writing for our third full-length album. It's been a bit of a slow-going thing. We are trying to make a record that has a classic and timeless feel to it. Some of you may also know that Riders of the Plague is going to be a hard album to top. We are doing whatever it takes to do just that. We have some ideas up our sleeves to involve you fans on this next record as well. The last time we had many of our fans put their names in our CD insert. Keep your eyes open for something a whole lot cooler than that. The music is coming along. We will be posting video footage of the pre-production and the recording in the months to come."