ABIGAIL WILLIAMS - Becoming

The Black Metal band from Phoenix - Arizona, presents us their new opus, and their music holds enough surprises for us to enjoy. First I have to say that this album is not an easy album, despite the fact that all the trademarks of a Black Metal release are present here. This is the first and stronger influence, where blastbeats, screaming vocals, and an ominous atmosphere is spread around the music. But the band has not limited their music to that, adding various elements in their songs, and giving often a doom and suffocating feeling to their music. Slow tempos, distorted guitars, nice melodies, and repetitive guitar riffs, create this feeling that is very welcome, and enriches the whole result. Acoustic parts dwell with blackened vocals, violins and cellos participating in this sonic feast, and the result is highly interesting at most of the times. The album consists on six songs, with two of them being just over 10 minutes in length, and one being 17 minutes. This might sound a bit tiring, but the band has managed to blend all those influences into songs that most of the times make you craving for more. The production is good enough, and points out all the details of the music, which are more than enough, and need some cautious listening to fully explore. It's really hard to say that this is a pure Black Metal album, although most of the times, it's moving on this path. But the addition of so many influences, and the blending with Doom has made their music much more intriguing. It's raw and aggressive, full of blastbeatings and atmospheric parts, with slow groovy riffs, and excellent musicianship. Check them out, but try to be as openminded as possible.

8/10