Abigail Williams - Becoming review
| Band: | Abigail Williams |
| Album: | Becoming |
| Style: | Atmospheric black metal |
| Release date: | January 23, 2012 |
| A review by: | Troy Killjoy |
01. Ascension Sickness
02. Radiance
03. Elestial
04. Infinite Fields Of Mind
05. Three Days Of Darkness
06. Beyond The Veil
Funny things happen when you ignore the name attached to a product and focus on the merits of said product exclusively.
Listening to a new Abigail Williams album is kind of like shopping for the latest MacBook. It's still a laptop, but it's an Apple laptop. Thus, it receives a majority of its love and hate purely based on its brand name, while only a few actually care to test the product and make an objective analysis. Ever searching for an identity, it's quite possible this latest jump of the bandwagon will bring these American black metallers closer to an established sound and subsequently a legitimate fan base.
Becoming takes more than just a few notes from the likes of Wolves In The Throne Room and a variety of other trending atmospheric black metal bands making it big on atmosphere without much substance, yet the bones of this skeleton have a fair amount of meat on them... and some spices to boot.
This is relatively slow for a black metal album, a trait that may incite listeners to tag the music as doom-infused or down-tempo, but it still has all the bells and whistles that make black metal what it is. In addition to the typical blastbeats and distorted guitars that have all but become synonymous with the genre, the band members make excellent use of some gloomy acoustic passages and touching violin and piano passages. Not necessarily reminiscent of A Forest Of Stars, but definitely a mood enhancer for those who appreciate melody and beauty in their extreme metal concoctions.
With all that said, of course Abigail Williams will still go hand-in-hand with "lacking identity" and "bandwagon jumping", but Becoming is a major step forward in terms of finding a style that best suits their abilities. Whether the band works at this rather than continuing to change at the drop of a hat remains to be seen, but at the very least fans of well-executed atmospheric black metal can put their worries to rest and enjoy the sonic nightmare created at the hands of some rather confused musicians.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 5 |
| Production: | 9 |
 | Written on 13.04.2012 by I'm total pro; that's what I'm here for. |
Comments
| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Highlight of the album right here.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Nosurper Stinky Lips Posts: 442  |
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| Alex F Posts: 3519  |
Written by Nosurper on 13.04.2012 at 01:45 "Like" or "Liked"... there's a difference
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 13.04.2012 at 03:13 For the most part I agree. The only thing preventing me from praising this was actually the slight inconsistency. If they all carried the same sort of weight of "Beyond the Veil" (building up an immense epic, bludgeoning the listener with grandiose chamber-esque music, and tying in just about every element of the song together as if to tell a story) then I would easily throw a high eight at this. But compared to that track the rest seemed to have moments where they kind of meandered in and out of cohesion, like maybe the band members weren't sure if what they were doing made sense? I dunno, that's my take on it. But I do think at least a significant portion of black metal fans would be adding this in the top 10 of their "best of 2012" lists if not for the whole Abigail Williams thing "tarnishing" the album. Agreed with the Wolves comment too. But they didn't have a questionable metalcore-influenced beginning so people never judged them for jumping any kind of bandwagon.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9157  |
I honestly don't give a rat's ass about the "Originality" of this album, thelittle things that make up this album seperate it from the rest. I didn't enjoy it when i first heard it, but it's a grower.
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702  |
Great album... rating a bit low, but I agree it's a tad inconsistent. I also agree that we would be raving about it if we weren't talking about Abigail Williams...
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| Urs Blank Posts: 319  |
Thank you Troy for reviewing this album. It gaves me the opportunity to get over this unfair reluctance I had about that band. To be honest I even thought Abigail Williams were a Power Metal band. Problem fixed! Surely not original but at least they achieved to reach a level of production they should really be proud of. Their performance is more than creditable, and I would probably give it a 8 after my second listen.
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
Written by Urs Blank on 13.04.2012 at 13:20 They were kind of "deathcorish" at the beginning...
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466  |
It is rather surprising Abigail Williams could fork up an album like this. It's nowhere near spectacular or anything, but it is leagues above what they used to do.
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| The Galactician Posts: 400  |
I'm ever baffled by the hate a lot of listeners have for these guys. I don't disagree with the fact that they're not the most original band on the block, but that doesn't make them any different than hundreds of other bands. Recycled riffs, sounds, and songwriting structures are super common place in metal; more the norm than not if you ask me. Personally, if I enjoy the songs I pretty much don't care. Anyway, in general agree with the review. I liked this one and their last one quite a bit. I saw them live a couple of years back too and they killed it on stage.
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| Aetherius Posts: 219  |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Urs Blank on 13.04.2012 at 13:20 My pleasure! Glad to have altered your perception for the better - I know these guys altered mine with their music. And while they've never been a power metal band, their blend of symphonic black metal and metalcore has all but dissipated and you're left with quite a nice atmospheric black metal release. An 8 seems like a perfect score. 
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311  |
This guy up here thought this was a power metal band... Well, I thought "he" was a solo guitarist or something similar  That was stupid from me.That song you highlighted was excellent, I'll give this a try. And well, the "nice review, dude" should be implict by now. PD: Abigail isn't even a "he". Now I feel worse.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Unhealer on 13.04.2012 at 18:23 History fail.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| strade Posts: 677  |
Meh, it would probably help if I was interested in this style of music. Wolves in the Throne Room bore the hell out of me, too. Those songs should have been much shorter, also. Really, I just don't like this release or band, and some of that might inevitably go toward the brand name on the cover. There, I admit it, but I wouldn't like it anyway, so oh well. Good review though, and I do wish people would be less hasty to judge a band because of its popularity/notoriety.
---- My lo-fi synth project: http://luciddreamer.bandcamp.com
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9157 |
Abigail Williams was the first American to be burned for witchcraft. ...The more you know...
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| Ernis 狼獾 Posts: 6815  |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 13.04.2012 at 21:20 As much as I've heard she was accused but she wasn't burned. In fact, as she left Salem, no one ever heard of her again.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Ernis on 13.04.2012 at 21:33 That's how the story goes. She was never burned for witchcraft.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Winterthrone Posts: 289  |
Ken Sorceron recently wrote on his Facebook that the next album would be in the same shades of Black Metal.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Winterthrone on 13.04.2012 at 22:14 In that case I look forward to reviewing their next release.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Opethian Posts: 1757  |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Opethian on 15.04.2012 at 01:01 Thanks!
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Dogsbreakfast Posts: 33  |
Written by Ernis on 13.04.2012 at 21:33 No one is Salem was burned for witchcraft. They were either hanged, imprisoned, or crushed to death.
---- dogsbreakfast@hotmail.com
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| Bones222 Posts: 8  |
There is an epic death/black metal growl at the commencement of track 2 "Radiance" truly sent shivers down the spine. Thanks for the review promptly purchased the album and have enjoyed so far, awesome soundtrack that matches the winter weather that is fast enshrouding us down under... winter and death are here.
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