Nothing Real Nothing Absent, Transitional’s latest release on Conspiracy Records, is comprised of the kind of dark instrumentals that grew out of punk and hardcore.

Albums like this are always interesting because they’re essentially the sound of people making music that comes to them naturally (after they’ve grown tired of making punk music), and it is a testimony to the creative process.

On Nothing Real Nothing Absent, the Hoover-esque (synth?) horns are a nice touch and a failsafe way to enhance the menace. But short of a few ways to spruce things up, there’s only so much that a band can do with the metal-instrumental. Unfortunately, listeners often wind up with something not unusual or the band takes an off-the-wall risk that falls flat (as on their track “Lustless”) and doesn’t pass the giggle test. Nothing Real Nothing Absent is somewhere in between.

C