| | Full Review | Ratings (388) |
Give your Rating |
| 4.5 superb | weare138mike | September 20th 08 |
purist and elitist won't be able to handle this record. it's as if cradle of filth and emperor screwed each other and had a baby. this cd is epic. music made for medevil war scenes. Or the epic battle of armaggedon when lucifer battles the holy armada for the throne of god. just think of that when you listen to this CD cuz the music invokes that kind of imagination.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.5 superb | CorytheSwede | October 31st 12 |
Very Emperor-ish in style, but with a heavy melodic death influence.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Xenorazr | November 14th 11 |
A strong offering of extreme metal, Abigail Williams' debut LP has good enough production to appeal to listeners who aren't so fond of black metal while keeping the attention of the genre's enthusiasts. This is isn't to say the album trumps any of the classic efforts by Emperor, Darkthrone, Mayhem and the like. But what the band lacks in dark intrigue, they make up for in energetic and surprisingly well-structured songs that sound alike while being individual from each other.
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| 4.5 superb | only4theweak | March 12th 11 |
Black metal meets metalcore. We all saw it coming. And we were all fairly certain it would be terrible. For this reason, Abigail Williams are a pleasant surprise. These guys have produced an excellent symphonic black metal record. Devoid of the artistic redundancy that plagues deathcore, most of this album sounds like a bastard child of Emperor, Immortal, Dimmu Borgir, The Black Dahlia Murder and Behemoth, with very gothic-tinged, Cradle of Filth-reminiscent keyboards thrown in for good measure. Abigail Williams produce orchestra-heavy, thrashy, and extremely abrasive music. They seem to focus on constructing songs that revolve around epic symphonics, melody and overall crushing heaviness. The vocals and riffs speak volumes of death metal - and maybe even some Gothenburg - influence, and yes, there's breakdowns, but they're few and far between. They're utilised conservatively and tastefully, and are always complex and technical, complimented with overtones of melodic shredding and atmospheric keyboards. These nuances help them to blend into the rhythmic structure of the music, adding more creative layers and personality to the songs rather than dominating or defining them. Far from damaging the band's credibility or integrity, the metalcore influences make Abigail Williams' personal style of black metal sound fresh, powerful, and unique. The ultra-technical drumming is crazy throughout and, regardless of what you think of the 'core' elements, you can't deny that the frequent 'traditional' blast beats and soundscapes are epic, intense and brutal as hell. I am loathe to call this 'blackcore' or burden it with any other shallow label. Black metal purists will no doubt utterly despise this, but any open-minded extreme metal fan should find a huge amount to enjoy here. This band's sound is, in essence, a ton of european metal immitation flavoured with some choice New Wave of American Heavy Metal influences. It's awesome.
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| 4.0 excellent | promiseswept | February 8th 11 |
So awesome. Keys are prominent on this CD, the drumming is memorable and very fast, the screaming is varied and high pitched, and the songs don't seem too long or boring. Such a great black metal CD
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| 4.0 excellent | Faceless_AtJ | January 12th 09 |
Can't go wrong with black metal. Especially the first four, it's mistifying! I wish these guys would come through Utah because that thour is one of the best lineups for a tour I have ever seen!! Damn Utah!
But in all I really enjoy this album and their previous ones.
Bump |
| 4.5 superb | MetalXlateM | November 16th 08 |
Just heard of these... there awsome, better than satyricon by far m/
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| 2.0 poor | Bard0 | October 20th 24 |
| 4.0 excellent | MaSuPe | October 2nd 24 |
| 3.5 great | heck | January 22nd 24 |
| 4.5 superb | tekth | November 8th 21 |
| 3.5 great | remi | October 20th 20 |
| 2.5 average | GallyP | May 15th 20 |
| 3.5 great | Elynna | January 19th 20 |
| 3.0 good | Wolfe | December 2nd 19 |
| 3.5 great | Adam | November 26th 19 |
| 4.5 superb | Laen | March 26th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Fear | December 27th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Jhator | August 27th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Redlar | March 22nd 17 |
| 3.0 good | Pegana | December 21st 15 |
| 3.0 good | btati | November 12th 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | mEyck97 | September 29th 15 |
| 2.5 average | mzeet | September 12th 15 |
| 3.5 great | "Tab" | March 2nd 15 |
| 3.0 good | Surtur | January 3rd 15 |
| 3.0 good | jmh886 | December 5th 14 |
| 2.0 poor | Xar | October 18th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | PittZa | March 14th 14 |
| 2.5 average | cjacob6 | January 27th 14 |
| 3.5 great | Giansk | November 26th 13 |
| 2.5 average | wil94 | November 5th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Nethal | October 18th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Rawben | October 8th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Ulshad | July 16th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | N2B3J | June 29th 13 |
| 3.5 great | tg103 | April 10th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | dragoth | March 2nd 13 |
| 3.5 great | kakuei | January 20th 13 |
| 3.0 good | Defcol | October 30th 12 |
| 3.3 great | Trey STAFF | September 24th 12 |
| 3.0 good | Feels | August 9th 12 |
| 3.5 great | gribb | May 24th 12 |
| 3.5 great | TBliss2 | February 27th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | DotEight | February 21st 12 |
| 3.5 great | Warpt | January 28th 12 |
| 2.0 poor | Vesper | December 5th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | RodTFD | October 28th 11 |
| 2.5 average | JJwins | September 9th 11 |
| 3.5 great | Oinky | August 1st 11 |
| 3.0 good | Zo0lz | June 8th 11 |
| 3.5 great | Ghor47 | April 9th 11 |
| 3.0 good | Jips | January 20th 11 |
| 2.5 average | VJ90 | January 17th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | jasuki | December 16th 10 |
| 3.5 great | psite45 | November 26th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | ZBJE | September 3rd 10 |
| 3.5 great | XpoopyX | September 2nd 10 |
| 3.5 great | CutMan | August 11th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Tfries | July 21st 10 |
| 2.0 poor | Quen | June 22nd 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | nyc87 | June 12th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Guiltor | June 11th 10 |
| 2.5 average | lakku | May 25th 10 |
| 4.5 superb | Befall | May 12th 10 |
| 3.0 good | Valle | April 4th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | LuTo | March 22nd 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | philm | February 7th 10 |
| 2.5 average | drewkar | December 28th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | urrburr | December 13th 09 |
| 4.5 superb | porkfaT | December 2nd 09 |
| 3.5 great | KevHals | November 11th 09 |
| 3.0 good | kaleb | November 1st 09 |
| 3.5 great | Derkyle | September 8th 09 |
| 1.0 awful | Dash | July 31st 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Csejthe | July 12th 09 |
| 3.0 good | GBJ | May 14th 09 |
| 3.0 good | mikev | December 24th 08 |
| 2.0 poor | Bleak | December 5th 08 |
| 4.5 superb | 666 | December 4th 08 |
| 4.0 excellent | twiik | November 26th 08 |
| 4.0 excellent | TBliss | November 26th 08 |
| 3.5 great | ikarus | November 22nd 08 |
| 4.5 superb | Zelot23 | November 21st 08 |
| 3.0 good | jrad69 | November 18th 08 |
| 4.5 superb | Zeedub | November 15th 08 |
| 2.5 average | Thor | November 12th 08 |
| 4.0 excellent | Harrow | October 24th 08 |
| 4.0 excellent | btbam99 | October 15th 08 |
| 4.5 superb | Medika | September 20th 08 |
| 4.2 excellent | Ryan P STAFF | September 10th 08 |
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