Abigail Williams - Walk Beyond the Dark (2019)^{Release ID: 14084}

Abigail Williams are a band I've previously had nothing to do with, probably because their name makes them sound like some hideous metalcore outfit. However, the Mariusz Lewandowski artwork of this, their latest release, put them well and truly onto my radar. Luckily this is no Killswitch Engage clone, but rather a melding of atmospheric and melodic black metal, resulting in a typically American release, having a denser, death metal-influenced black metal sound than the oftentimes thinner sound of European BM. Although I favour the more lo-fi aesthetic of black metal, I can still appreciate a well-produced, beefier version of the devil's own music, which is what we have here. There's a few nice changes of pace and tone too, which give the album plenty of variety. This certainly isn't a mindless blastathon (not that there's anything wrong with that), but rather a good example of a number of bands who may well have a wider appeal outside the hard-core BM fraternity.