Review Summary: A stunning symphonic black metal album that easily rivals anything put out in the last few years.
In the legendary words of actor Keanu Reeves, "Whoa!"
Abigail Williams is a symphonic black metal band hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, and boy are they awesome. In a sense, they remind me of a modern version of Emperor; complex keyboard passages and all. 'In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns', the bands very first LP, is a stunning piece of symphonic black metal that would make the symphonic black metal gods proud; with amazing drum work, outstanding keyboard arrangements, some of the best high register vocals this side of Emperor, and some insane guitar riffing. Musically this album is a mix of symphonic black metal and some very minor, minor elements of death metal/metalcore; though the main driving force of the album is symphonic black metal. Its a huge step over their 'Legend' EP, which was a strange amalgamation of black metal and metalcore. 'In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns' still does have some metalcore moments; check out the breakdowns in 'The Departure'.
The first thing you will notice is that the production is amazingly clean, especially so for a symphonic black metal band. Every instrument is clearly audible and given equal amount of space in the audio spectrum. The second thing you may notice is that 'In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns' somewhat resembles an Emperor album; at least to me it does. In fact there are so many similarities between Abigail Williams debut LP and Emperor's overall sound. For one, the clean singing sections and the higher register screams evoke memories of Ihsahn. Also, the keyboard compositions sound eerily like modern day versions of Emperor compositions; this is not a bad thing by any means (check out the track 'Empyrean: Into the Cold Wastes' and you'll see what I mean- this track bleeds Emperor). Even the structures of some of the tracks sound similar to what Emperor composed on earlier albums. Make no mistake though, Abigail Williams have the skills and the chops to hold their own and maintain a level of originality and individualism despite any comparisons to other bands. For a debut album the compositions and the instrumentation are impeccable; there is no 'filler' here, nor are there any boring sections or passages. Fans of symphonic black metal will be quite familiar with the style found on 'In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns', as it falls quite closely to your standard symphonic black metal, but it is done with such gusto, with such soul and heart that you can't help but be swept up in the moment, forgetting that many of the cliched symphonic black metal elements are present throughout the album, and in abundance. There are plenty of blast beats, tremolo riffing and higher pithced
The keyboard work is phenomenal, with intricate, complex compositions that really shine due to the excellent production; check out the short but sweet interlude ''A semblance of life', simply amazing. Not only are we treated to the typical synth strings and keys sounds, but we get sci-fi effects and pads as well, which really add atmosphere to the overall sound. I cannot stress how amazing and perfect the keyboard work is; its easily the best aspect of this album. The guitars alternate between tremolo picking and straight metal riffing; all exceptionally executed, filling out the sound and providing nice counterpoints to the keyboards. At certain points in the album the bands metalcore roots shine through with the occasional metalcore drenched riffing. There are even some guitar solos throughout the album that really spice things up. The drum work is equally impressive; you get your usual blast beats and death metal drumming, but its done so well and it shines forth because of the squeaky clean production. The vocals, as I've noted previously have the effect of sounding similar to Ihsahn's vocals (Emperor vocalist), though they do deviate at various points with low growling here and there. I was really impressed with the vocals as they are fitting and executed perfectly. The clean sung vocals are sparse and fitting, and the growls and screams are exactly what the music needs. The lyrics vary from love lost to cryptic lyrics that I have yet to figure out; though I find the lyrics fitting and enjoyable to listen to.
'In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns', is intense, amazing, chaotic, beautiful and exceptional; a stunning achievement for a debut LP. It is one of the best symphonic black metal albums to ever grace the genre. Abigail Williams easily stack up next to such greats as Emperor, Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. Easily an instant classic, I look forward to future outings from this band.
Highly Recommended.
