Review by Rexorcist for Abigor - Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom) (1995)

I'm not very well versed in Abigor, but since I'll be joining Metal Academy's North Clan soon, it's time for me to get started on a North List Challenge. But first, before I handle the 2nd Decade Challenge, I'll celebrate with some classic black metal from Abigor.  I'm familiar with their debut album and thought it was quite good, but nothing special.  This is special, in a million ways.  There's a cinematic approach which allows the band to maximize their abilities.  Flawless production and mixing allows the full extent of their black metal prowess to bleed through like a big gash in the gut.  Not only is the balance between black metal speed and proper compositions perfected, allowing the band to constantly surprise every half a minute without breaking the essence of any song or the album itself, but the crystal production allows that second layer in the background to be heard quietly but clearly.  It would be nice to see them diversify their ideas more, but at least we have some brilliant playing and clever layering to back it all up.  To be honest, the first couple songs astounded me, but it felt less original as it went along.  Still, I'm happy to get through yet another classic in the traditional black metal scene, and I'll definitely check out more Abigor albums later on.

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