Before I do a favor for you, which is to tell you to avoid this record, I'd like for you do a favor for me. Don't worry; it's nothing exceptionally difficult or disturbing. And best of all, it requires only the barest minimum of effort on your part.  

I ask of you this: before you read any further than the following few lines, please cut and paste the URL below (which is unfortunately not a hyperlink) into the web browser that brought you here.  

http://community2.metalreview.com/blogs/editorials/archive/2010/09/07/abigail-williams-review-the-director-s-cut.aspx      

No, it's okay. Go ahead.  

Seriously, go for it. I'll wait.      



Okay, fine. If you've made it this far, you clearly intend to keep going, no matter what feeble protests I may raise, so here you have it:  

This is not the Abigail Williams review. It appears to be the Abigail Williams review, but it isn't. Where is the Abigail Williams review, you may ask? I already told you, but you wouldn't listen. And then, if this isn't the Abigail Williams review, what is it? Well, it's an Abigail Williams review, but not the Abigail Williams review.  

And this one goes like this:  

Not too long ago, Abigail Williams was a six-piece band from Phoenix, Arizona, who managed to garner some early interest for their blend of symphonic black metal and metalcore. I'll admit that it wasn't a particularly compelling blend, at least not to me, but at least, compared to the rehashed In The Absence Of Light, it was a somewhat unique angle. Nowadays, Abigail Williams is a three-piece band from New York City that has managed to strip away almost all distinguishing characteristics in further pursuit of pure Dimmu boredom. (In the interest of disclosure, allow me to say that I completely skipped In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns. I am now rejoining our program already in progress, but something tells me I didn’t miss anything.)  

In The Absence Of Light is a bland, repetitive goth-tinged blast of alleged evil, a Dark Funeral-meets-Cradle of Filth pompous circus dance, and a boring one at that. I will admit that there was a time when I'd have enjoyed this more readily than I do now--that time was, say, 1997ish, when symphonic black metal was a relatively new beast and the cruelty of such anthems at dusk hadn't yet fallen into spiritless black dimensions. But now, some thirteen years later, the last thing I really need is another dull Dimmu Borgir album, and especially not one from a band who isn't even actually Dimmu Borgir.  

In the interest of objectivity, I suppose I should mention that the record is capably produced and competently performed, with no glaring technical mishaps in either department. But quite simply, unless you're some kind of symphonic addict, you don't need In The Absence Of Light -- if you're looking for symphonic black metal of the last-decade variety, might I recommend a few things from the last decade, perhaps anything by Emperor or even Cradle Of Filth up through Cruelty And The Beast, at which point the schtick turned schtale. But if you can’t get enough of Enthrone Darkness Triumphant and you’d absolutely love another one that isn’t even a quarter as good, then by all means, you can have this one…  

But seriously, do yourself a favor and avoid this record.