Once upon a time in early 1988, one man laid his hands upon a guitar and decided to start a band in the style of Black Sabbath and Metallica. Having met like minded people, they begun rehearsing, and in 1993 they played their first "outside-of-the-apartment" gig at Metalfan Fest in Bucharest under the name of Punct Mortal (literally translated as Mortal Point). It was at this point they decided to take a new direction, and "Abigail" was born. So began the new journey under the name inspired by King Diamond's Abigail album and mythological stories. The first official announcement of "Abigail" was in a magazine, in January 1994. The two founding members, Razvan "R" Alexandru (guitar/vocals) and Tudor "G" George (drums) met back in 1991.
1994 - 1996: First steps
Abigail recorded their first material in 1994 called "These are the ruins of mine" in Cronos's band rehearsing space. Two songs chartered for numerous weeks in the Romanian Top 100 on one of the most well known radio stations, Radio 21. Along with a band called Walpurgia, radio 21 was also the setting of the first gig the band played under their new name. The next few releases were concentrated to singles on various compilation cds, mostly in 1995 which exposed them to a much larger audience: Underground Romania, Romanian Metal Underground, etc. Abigail then put on the first doom/death/black evening in Bucharest at Hard'n Heavy Cafe with other local bands. They invited for the first time in Bucharest, the band 'Wiccan Rede' (in 1996 they changed their name to Negura Bunget) and 'Psychosymphony'. The second evening in this format featured the band 'Grimegod' and another band from Iasi, also for the first time in Bucharest. In 1996 the band released "Together and more" along with a video for the first single. In the same year they also had their first TV appearances on local metal shows, the most important of which was 'Intalnirea de la Miezul Noptii' (Midnight Meeting) led by Petre Magdin.
1997 - 1999: Into the glory ride
In 1997, local awareness of the band was already starting to grow, and new material such as "Bitter tears" added a fresh new flavour for the local scene. "Bitter tears" went on in 1998 to become part of the legendary "Sonnets" released through Bestial Records in 1998. This record proved a huge hit in the Romanian metal scene, and the song is frequently requested on radio shows and remains in the Top 4 on Bestial Records's all-time bestsellers. 1998 also saw the band gain a number of distinctions (since all metal festivals here until 2000 were Band Competitions). Then in 1999, the band recorded two unreleased songs. These tracks might see an official release as bonuses on the next album.
2002 - 2008: Reborn
Between 1999-2002, Abigail took a break due to external circumstance within the Romanian metal scene. However, in 2003 they were back with a bang as they reunited and dropped further releases using the weapons they were known for in Romania: extreme melody, deep emotional lyrics and sharp riffs. In 2002 they were present at the first Romanian all night Festival called "Super Rock Open Air" put up by MTV Romania and Lenti Chiriac and "Metalheart Fest" in Costinesti in 2003. In 2007, new talents joined the two founding members, as the band set course for an experimental mission and change of musical direction from doom/death/gothic to a more modern style. It proved to be undoubtedly one of the best years for the band in terms of feedback and gigs. It also saw the band perform at many club gigs, the first two gigs outside Romania (in Vienna), playing opening act for Evergrey (with Duncan Patterson as guest member), a few appearances in festivals alongside Cynic, Urkraft, Inner Wish, etc, and opening act for Katatonia, during which the band showcased their new record, "New Dawn" which received great reviews from the local and world media.
2008 - 2011: Back to the Roots
In 2008, Razvan felt that this new experimental direction was not entirely what he had intended and many fans requested that they go back to their core roots. Therefore, the band once again became the doom/death symbol for Bucharest, playing new songs with great feedback on the 2008 "Rockin' Transilvania Fest" along with bands such as Helloween, Kreator, and Testament etc. It took almost two years to create the atmosphere in songs that the fans had been crying out for and in 2010 they began recording new material. They also starting playing again in shows broadcast to the public and media.
In October 2011 - Abigail released its new EP "It is the night I fear" in a show held in Bucharest at Elephant Pub. With no support band and almost 150 people in attendance, Abigail showed that it can still be a driving force in the Romanian metal scene.
Going forwards, the band is preparing videos and recordings for a brand new album, the 3CD + DVD "Dark Days Turned Into Blue Nights" which is tipped for release in 2012. And so, the story continues.
Credits
Credits are intended to list those people have helped and/or participated in one way or another to a project's effort such as this band for example. This list would be huge if we recounted all the dudes and dudettes, all the media and press individually.
So we decided to address a great big THANK YOU to all of you who have been so close to us during all these years. Last but not least, a big THANK YOU to all of our former band mates who shared this experience with us. This new album is entirely dedicated to you and our fans. Good things come to those who wait.