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Abigail Williams - Becoming



7.5 | 105 votes |
Release date: 23 January 2012
Style: Atmospheric black metal

Owners:

111 have it
13 want it


01. Ascension Sickness
02. Radiance
03. Elestial
04. Infinite Fields Of Mind
05. Three Days Of Darkness
06. Beyond The Veil

Additional info
Available for streaming here: http://candlelightrecordsusa.bandcamp.com/album/becoming

Staff review by
Troy Killjoy
Rating:
7.7
Funny things happen when you ignore the name attached to a product and focus on the merits of said product exclusively.

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published 13.04.2012 | Comments (26)

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Comments

Comments: 21   [ 2 ignored ]   Visited by: 440 users
20.01.2012 - 01:27
Rating: 8
The Galactician

Written by Coconut Racecar on 30.10.2011 at 21:27

I don't care what the album is called what it's theme is or anything about it, all I care is that it's made by Abigail Willams and I fucking need this album.


Nice to see someone else with some enthusiasm for these guys! I saw them a year or so ago and was blown away by how good they were live--ran out and grabbed both records and have been a regular listener ever since. I'm kind of baffled by how many haters they seem to have. Eh, to each their own I guess.

After a couple of listens I dig this latest release and appreciate that they're willing to try something different record to record.
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25.01.2012 - 03:47
psykometal
A staff guy...
Written by Coconut Racecar on 22.01.2012 at 22:48

most of their hate was attained through their first two releases. they used to be a more.. black-metalcore outfit before fully delving into the traditional black metal sound. and it made a lot of the 'true' (if you can call them that) metal heads annoyed by this band. if you ask me, everything evolves, why hate what it used to be ?

I too always felt that the hatred for these dudes is very ridiculous and quite undeserving after they broke-up and reformed with a new line-up and a new vastly "more metal" sound. Their first EP Legend was very blackened deathcore/metalcore (so the hatred was understandable there) and a lot of people said that A Thousand Suns still had those "core" influences. Me though when I listen to that album I don't hear any breakdowns or "core" elemnts but lots of late 90's early 2000's Norwegian symphonic black metal elements (a la Emperor Equilibrium IX, undoubtedly Trym might have something to do with that, lol) and then Absence is even more Norwegian black metal sounding than the first LP. I have high hopes for this album, however I am a little worried about the song lengths but overall I enjoy these guys quite a bit.
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25.01.2012 - 08:53
psykometal
A staff guy...
Ok so I've listened to this a little bit now. Abigail Williams has done a very good job with this however is it just me or does it seem that Abigail Williams has actually managed to "devolve" or "digress"? Ya know a lot of BM bands started off sounding like Becoming all "kvlt" and atmospheric and shit and then moved to the faster slightly more complex sound like on Absence of Light and then eventually "evolve" into Shadow of a Thousand Suns with really loud production high speed with keyboards and lots of blast beating. These dudes managed to make that "progression" backwards though. I'm not complaining because I think it's really kool and extremely different from (literally) ALL other bands out there... kudos to Ken Sorceron...
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26.01.2012 - 19:00
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Preliminary listens suggest this to be far more effective than most other Cascadian/atmospheric black metal artists at this point. Naturally, the band label would influence scoring here in a negative manner. This is bandwagon jumping but well done bandwagon jumping.
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28.01.2012 - 05:37
Rating: 7
Boxcar Willy
yr a kook
I actually enjoyed this.
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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31.01.2012 - 00:06
Rating: 7
Boxcar Willy
yr a kook
I saw this at hot topic, and gained a little faith in humanity. Then I saw three out of four rows of Asking Alexandria shirts >:[
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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31.01.2012 - 00:56
psykometal
A staff guy...
Written by Boxcar Willy on 31.01.2012 at 00:06

I saw this at hot topic, and gained a little faith in humanity. Then I saw three out of four rows of Asking Alexandria shirts >:[

But you know what the most shameful part of it all is? You went into Hot Topic...
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31.01.2012 - 01:29
Rating: 7
Boxcar Willy
yr a kook
Written by psykometal on 31.01.2012 at 00:56

Written by Boxcar Willy on 31.01.2012 at 00:06

I saw this at hot topic, and gained a little faith in humanity. Then I saw three out of four rows of Asking Alexandria shirts >:[

But you know what the most shameful part of it all is? You went into Hot Topic...

They used to have good stuff there, I bought an Amon Amarth shirt from there. >:[

Its dead to me now.
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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31.01.2012 - 02:03
psykometal
A staff guy...
Written by Boxcar Willy on 31.01.2012 at 01:29

They used to have good stuff there, I bought an Amon Amarth shirt from there. >:[

Its dead to me now.

Yea, they did...before the teeny boppers and core kids took over. Oh well. Things don't stay "underground" for very long when they post up in the mall...
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31.01.2012 - 21:58
musicalkaratekid

Its interesting how different abigail williams now sound with ashley ellylon, but with 'Becoming', it seems that their sound has also matured. There is good progression in songs such as 'Elestial' and 'Infinite fields of mind', and the vocals have gone from those oh-so-annoying shrieks to a more guttural style ala Nocturno Culto in darkthrone's early 90's heyday.

However, this album is indeed very boring when reviewing it generally. Three of the songs stretch over 10 minutes (!), and whilst that isn't necessarily new or unique for black metal, the misuse of these song lengths let the album down, proving the riffs contained to be too generic and overused. The raw production is a good idea, but again, with songwriting as complex as this, it would have benefited from a more modernised production.

Not that I dislike this album at all, but i just can't help the feeling that Abigail williams are trying too hard.
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31.01.2012 - 23:50
psykometal
A staff guy...
Written by musicalkaratekid on 31.01.2012 at 21:58

Its interesting how different abigail williams now sound with ashley ellylon

Not sure if you meant to say "without ashley ellyllon" but just in case you weren't aware, Ashley ditched AW for Cradle of Filth back in 2009 before they recorded their last album...
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31.01.2012 - 23:53
musicalkaratekid

Written by psykometal on 31.01.2012 at 23:50

Written by musicalkaratekid on 31.01.2012 at 21:58

Its interesting how different abigail williams now sound with ashley ellylon

Not sure if you meant to say "without ashley ellyllon" but just in case you weren't aware, Ashley ditched AW for Cradle of Filth back in 2009 before they recorded their last album...


Oops, meant 'without' =P
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22.02.2012 - 01:41
psykometal
A staff guy...
Written by ₣rost Giant on 21.02.2012 at 21:28

and the funniest thing is my girlfriend interviewed Ken and he said he didnt like WITTR at all. Then when we saw them live two people in the band had WITTR shirts on.

Was Ken wearing a WITTR shirt or just a couple of his bandmates? Cuz him saying "I don't like WITTR" is not quite the same as "we don't like WITTR" (just saying). I never got too into WITTR so I can't comment on the band worship/similarity but they definitely jumped on the atmo black metal "bandwagon".
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22.02.2012 - 03:44
psykometal
A staff guy...
Written by ₣rost Giant on 22.02.2012 at 03:37

He said he didnt like WITTR, yet their music has copy paste riffs and sounds like a carbon copy of Diadem. Its not as if hes the only one making the music, so if you dont like a band why would you still let it sound just like the band. Also the went for smaller track list with a lot of songs being over 10 minutes.

Ah ok, fair enough. I'll have to check it out in more depth some time. Thanx.
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22.04.2012 - 23:12
Rating: 8
Draugen

Seeing as this is my first experience with Abigail Williams I can't compare it with their previous releases but judging by peoples comments I doesn't seem to have missed out on something particulary exciting, or good for that matter...

Anyway, I really liked Becoming. Sure, it is rather lackluster in the originality department but I still think that the album has enough personality of its own as to not be a complete rip off. The somewhat gritty production and the occasional doomy soundscapes are very nice touches. Then of course there is the last track which is so powerful and majestic, with the symphonic elements being a big part of its general epicness.
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23.04.2012 - 03:12
Rating: 7
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Draugen on 22.04.2012 at 23:12
Seeing as this is my first experience with Abigail Williams I can't compare it with their previous releases but judging by peoples comments I doesn't seem to have missed out on something particulary exciting, or good for that matter...

Pros and cons discovering a band that has experienced such a vast change throughout the years. You don't have to worry about comparing to their back catalog and judge the album for what it's worth, but at the same time you don't get to experience the feeling of disappointment or excitement based on whether or not you feel the progressed or regressed.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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24.04.2012 - 22:56
Rating: 8
ProgVet

Finally just got around to picking this album up. I thought In the Shadown of a Thousand Suns was a very good album and that In the Absence of Light was almost just plain good. Becoming was simply OK for me until I got to the last song on the album. Whatever they stumbled across with Beyond the Veil is incredible. I hope to see more of that sound in the future.
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16.11.2012 - 21:13
Rating: 7
Góral
Combo Breaker
I listened this album several times and I'm still not bored. That's good, especially the last song.
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09.11.2015 - 20:31
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Christ, forgot how extraordinary this is:

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10.11.2015 - 00:53
Rating: 9
musclassia

Written by Guest on 09.11.2015 at 20:31

Christ, forgot how extraordinary this is:
(Beyond The Veil)


AW were one of the major gateway bands for me getting into black metal - their debut, sophomore, and 3rd albums were amongst my first tastes of symphonic, melodic (?) and atmospheric BM, and I enjoyed them all quite a lot at the time, even if not quite so much these days. That said, "Beyond The Veil" is still an incredible effort - probably one of the best uses of violin in metal.
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20.03.2018 - 21:09
Rating: 9
musclassia

Haha, just listened to this for the first time in what must be years today and wanted to rave about how amazing Beyond The Veil is; bit sad that the last comment here is me raving about how amazing Beyond The Veil is
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