Abigail Williams: The Accuser

This album confronts the namesake of the band head on. Abigail Williams was one of the first to accuse others in Salem Village of witchcraft. Her actions eventually led to the deaths of several people and have left behind an enduring legacy that remains with us still. I realize there's much more to say both about Abigail and the Puritan community in which she lived, but this isn't the time for a discussion of the Salem witchcraft incident in the broadest sense. What I find interesting here is the band's willingness to consider the figure of Abigail directly. It might have been interesting to tell her story with a variety of musical components, including clean vocals, but the band chose to approach things pretty much as a dark black metal album, one that rasps and churns and broods. I enjoyed the music at first, but found it to be slightly too repetitive, even cold, from time to time.

As most listeners know, Abigail Williams if often unpredictable and that the band's lineup changes regularly. With this album, the band's founder Sorceron is joined by Charlie Fell, Will Lindsay, Jeff Wilson, and Neill Jameson. I thought everything came together pretty well here, though, as I mentioned above, things are often so dark and so grim that they come off as somewhat cold. There were plenty of high points here, but very little overall surprise. Even though the music matched the content pretty well, things would have been stronger with more musical variety. After all, the story of the Salem witches is one of multiple voices, arguments, and ambitions.

Track Listing:
1. Path of Broken Glass
2. The Cold Lines
3. Of The Outer Darkness
4. Will, Wish and Desire
5. Godhead
6. Forever Kingdom of Dirt
7. Lost Communion
8. Nuummite

Added: December 22nd 2015
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1855
Language: english

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