Path Of No Return is glorious in its perseverance. Never betraying its mission, the imminent masterwork The Absinthe Dreams by Örebro, Sweden’s Path Of No Return is testimony to the fact that integrity and ambition pays off. A band that has travelled the hard roads to get to where they are presently, Path Of No Return is the band that you absolutely positively cannot ignore this year if you have any desire to be touched by sincere and heavy music. With a desired deal with Sweden’s multi-faceted and renowned Burning Heart label, and a frantic will to break out of the generic mold of contemporary metal, The Absinthe Dreams conveys both spine-crushing ferocity and all the emotion of a Scandinavian dirge.

The absolutely crushing force of The Absinthe Dreams displays a band that conveys total disregard for conformity. The album is a tour-de-force that not only promises to extend its musical scope with metallic power and a gracious melodic allure – it is an album created out of the sheer conviction that the way ahead is forward, not backwards. Since the band’s previous effort, “Black Nights Coming” (GSR, 2005), giant leaps have been taken. Although maintaining a respect for the sound that garnered the band its ever-increasing following, no regard is taken to voices that crave its repetition.

Because what makes a heavy band stand out 2007? Path Of No Return enlightens us that according to them, it is about capturing the art of the sublime – that which is beautiful in its grotesque. What we are served is jagged metal baptized in hardcore, with baffling tightness and technical proficiency (thankfully devoid of all things ‘math’), all the while dragging us in hook, line, sinker with melodies that drip with emotional sincerity. Lyrically, we find homogeneity in this respect; The Absinthe Dreams conveys stark and forthright insight into what goes on inside the minds and hearts of these four human beings.

Make no mistake - The Absinthe Dreams weighs tons and cracks walls with its power. Only this time, it is all done with a greater sense of humanity and expression. If integrity and progression are characteristics you look for in music, we bid you to look no further. The hour has struck. Witness The Absinthe Dreams.