Abigail: Intercourse & Lust (1996)

I have been exploring the Japanese metal scene little by little over the last couple of years.  I have long been familiar with groups like Sabbat, Coffins, Gallhammer and Sigh.  Lately though I have been furthering my exploration of the scene, focusing on the early works of the aforementioned Sabbat and Sigh, but also checking out Loudness and X Japan.  I have also checked out this album, the debut release from Abigail, a band that rivals Sabbat for productivity.

Abigail considers themselves the most evil band in Japan, and their music definitely lives up to that billing.  The band is likely named after the first solo King Diamond album and takes their influence from Mercyful Fate, Motörhead, Venom, Bathory and the early German thrash metal bands.  The music is fast and aggressive, filthy and raw.  Despite this, the songs actually vary widely in sound.  Opening track "A Witch Named Aspilcuetta" is a blazing fast bulldozer of a song.  Later songs take the Motörhead influence and run wild with it, actually managing to sound like the band with blast beats and shrieking vocals.

The most interesting song on the album is "Hail Yakuza".  The song is the most dynamic on the album, consisting of several movements, including some slower spots.  In addition, the music is complemented by several sound clips from what I will assume are Japanese movies.  I really have no idea as I do not speak Japanese. 

This album is terrific.  I highly recommend it for fans of black/thrash/speed metal in the vein of the early pioneers of the black metal scene.  There are a lot of terrific metal bands from Japan, and Abigail is definitely near the top of the list.  I definitely need to check out more of their stuff.