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.

FMA Reviews: Nunslaughter/Abigail: Fucking Satan

Originally reviewed here.

Japan's Abigail and Ohio's Nunslaughter share some things in common, not the least of which is their prolific output of recordings. It was only a matter of time before these two bands, who each manage to put out a dozen new releases every year, paired up. Well here we have it, with the none-too-subtle title Fucking Satan. I am sure we are in for a hell of a ride with this one (pun not intended, but definitely appropriate).

Nunslaughter kicks things off and we are immediately treated to their style of punk-inflected death metal insanity. The first track is actually one of the longer ones Nunslaughter has done, a much more complete song than the usual one quick riff with some Satanic lyrics and done. It actually goes on for a couple of minutes and is one of the better Nunslaughter songs I have heard. The second track is much more typical Nunslaughter and lasts about 30 seconds.

I was not familiar with Abigail before this split but I can see why they would work well on a split with Nunslaughter. The blackened thrash metal maniacs have quite a bit of punk influence as well, as can be discerned from their second track. Their music bears a resemblance to fellow blackened countrymen Sabbat. It is closer to first wave black metal where thrash riffs could still be identified in the music. The vocals are mostly blackened shrieking.

I like splits because of the chance to hear a couple of bands vying for attention. I definitely came away more impressed with the Nunslaughter side here, but Abigail caught my attention.

This is a very short, but filthy and raw split with both bands doing their best to make eardrums bleed. They both succeed.