Rabidfest 2023: Breaking Down The Bands #12: Absolva!

Time flies when you’re having fun (or slaving away at a 9-5 grind you hate) but nine days after Easter, how have you still got Chocolate left? While you contemplate filling your face once more we’re here to tell you why the fifth anniversary of Rabidfest at The Bullingdon in Oxford on 4th and 5th November is going to be so special. It’s not just about a weekend of wall to wall riffs, thunderous percussion and rumbling bass or the constant flowing rivers of your favourite poison. It’s about the warm and friendly atmosphere created by the people who organise it every year, bringing in the top notch bands and throwing some money at charities like The Sophie Lancaster Foundation. They deserve all the credit and rightly so. Ticket links are at the bottom of this article but before we get to that, here’s whose been announced to play this year (so far)…

Blaze Bayley
Absolva
Ward XVI
Mortishead
Tribe Of Ghosts
Gutlocker
Imperium
From Her Ashes
Draconian Reign
Monasteries
Reveller
LestWeForget
Johanna Rey

If you’ve made it this far, Absolva will thank you because they’re the main event of this crime against humanity. They’ve dropped no less than seven albums in penance for their seven deadly sins since forming in Manchester is 2012 with drummer Martin McNee, vocalist and guitarist Chris Appleton and his brother and ex-Iced Earth guitarist Luke Appleton having been in Fury UK since 2002. They’re joined by ex-From Ruin bassist Karl Schramm and together will be pulling double duties as they also form Blaze Bayley‘s band and have done so since 2015. But that’s a side note. What Absolva specialise in is melodic riffing and fretboard smoking soloing in a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal style, paying homage to heroes in Iron Maiden and Judas Priest in the process. They don’t re-invent the wheel, instead offering the kind of intertwining soloing upon which Trivium have made their name and setting an example for bands like The Raven Age, having been there, done that and got the t-shirt several times over at this point. From them we’re hoping for fans favourites “Fire In The Sky“, “Advocate Your Fate“, “Burning Star“, “Defiance” or the cut which deserves a James Bond movie named after it “Never a Good Day to Die” although if they do decide to throw in the odd Iron Maiden cover no one will be complaining…

We’re proud to be a Media Partner of Rabidfest again this year alongside Red Death Media, Moomin Merchandise, Metalplanetmusic, Moshville Times, GraphicsFix, Unearthed Music and main stage sponsor Devolution Magazine. The Festival is all for charity and this year the profits going to the The Sophie Lancaster Foundation!

Rabidfest will take place at The Bullingdon in Oxford over the weekend of the 4th and 5th November 2023:

Get your tickets here -> https://www.rabidfest.co.uk

Get your merch here -> https://shop.rabidfest.co.uk