Abigail Williams is an American black metal band. The band's name comes from a girl who played a significant role in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Between 2008 and 2015, the band released 4 albums via Candlelight Records. The group has suffered numerous line-up changes, vocalist/guitarist/songwriter/bandleader and former vocalist for The Faceless, Ken Sorceron being the only original member remaining. The band was somewhat controversial for their early musical style, which was a fusion of metalcore and symphonic black metal. Abigail Williams eventually dropped their symphonic elements and adopted a traditional black metal sound.
2019's Walk Beyond the Dark is the first album in four years and now via Blood Music. Only seven songs running for just over 55 minutes, the album is a mesh up of different black metal branches. "Ever so Bold" and "Into the Sleep" are the shortest tracks and feature a more straightforward black metal with blast beats and guitar picking. The other five songs are longer and more progressive. The album opener and my favorite "I Will Depart" is a very dynamic progressive black n' roll song. There's a nice balance between groove and relentless speed. Overall fantastic drumming and metallic guitar work. "Sun and Moon" (also fantastic drumming including a tribal beat) and "Black Waves" bring the more emotional and atmospheric side of Abigail Williams. The longest track, "The Final Failure" closes the album with its eleven epic minutes. It's the closest song to their symphonic early days. It also features one o the best vocal melodies in the album, not to mention the rare, but nicely done, use of clean vocals.
This is the first time I take the time to listen to Abigail Williams and I'm happy I did it so. It's a diverse black metal record that shows different sounds and styles the band has previously experimented with . The production is dynamic and well balanced. I love the sound of the drums and the tasteful use of strings in small doses. The album cover is also a plus. I personally think that the longer and more progressive songs work better than the couple of short ones. Moreover, I can't say that the album is bringing something really new to the table. But overall, it's an entertaining extreme metal album to get us through the cold winter. I don't like many black metal albums, but every now and then one calls my attention. Walk Beyond the Dark is certainly one o the best in the genre that I've heard in 2019.
SCORE: 80/100
DR: 7
Genre: Black Metal
Released by Blood Music on November 15th, 2019
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Rating System
98 - 100 Perfect
92 - 97 Excellent
86 - 91 Great
81 - 85 Very Good
77 - 80 Good
69 - 76 Mixed
58 - 68 Bad
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