Tampa, Florida melodic thrash outfit THE ABSENCE will replace LAZARUS A.D. on the last three shows of AMON AMARTH's "Twilight Of The Thunder God North American Tour Pt. 2" with GOATWHORE and SKELETONWITCH. The affected dates are as follows:

Apr. 30 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
May 01 - Orlando, FL @ Club Firestone
May 02 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room

THE ABSENCE is currently writing material for its third full-length album. Guitarist Patrick Pintavalle states, "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."

THE ABSENCE last fall opened for AMON AMARTH on their North American tour. Also on the bill were the Finnish folk-metal act ENSIFERUM and the Austrian blackened death metal band BELPHEGOR.

THE ABSENCE's sophomore CD, "Riders of the Plague", was released on August 7, 2007 via Metal Blade Records. The album was recorded at Mana Studios in Florida with Swedish producer Jonas Kjellgren (SCAR SYMMETRY, CARNAL FORGE). Mixing duties were handled by Jonas at his Black Lounge studios in Avesta, Sweden. The CD features guest appearances by guitarists James Murphy (DEATH, TESTAMENT), Jonas Kjellgren, Per Nilsson (SCAR SYMMETRY) and Santiago Dobles (AGHORA) as well as guest vocals by Jonas Granvik (WITHOUT GRIEF, EDGE OF SANITY).