Abigail Williams (band)

Abigail Williams

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Abigail Williams is an American symphonic black metal band, originally from Phoenix, Arizona, but now based in New York City.

The band would suffer constant changes to their line-up. Shortly after an eight-week tour in support of In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns, vocalist Ken Sorceron would become the only original member remaining.

History

The band was formed in 2005 by guitarist Ken Bergeron, who later became the vocalist. Prior to forming Abigail Williams and taking on the name Sorceron, Bergeron was the guitarist of Victims In Ecstacy, followed by participation in various hardcore and metal acts in Arizona.

The band's sound backed away from it's metalcore roots, which was famously described as "black metalcore" by a UK magazine, with the release of their debut album, In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns, and began to take inspiration from the melodic metal scene found in the Nordic countries. Because bands from these countries were immersed in the mythology of their respective countries, Abigail Williams looked into American history. Arthur Miller's The Crucible brought Abigail Williams, one of the original and foremost accusers in the Salem witch trials of 1692, to their attention.

The accuser is always relevant in society. In America there were the witch trials, the Red Scare, and now terrorism. Everyone is always quick to point a finger; we do it out of fear, prejudice, and because of things we don’t understand. So, the accuser will always be present in society. Abigail Williams really stuck out to us, not only due to the above mentioned, but also because it possessed that iconic quality, while still sounding very American. We want people to know where we are from, and that even though it may not be cool/trendy, we are proud of our American culture.

— Thomas G. Plaguehammer, About.com

After touring extensively, including a United Kingdom tour in 2006, its debut release was the Legend EP in 2006, which mixed metalcore influences with symphonic black metal, and was described by Allmusic as "a perfect example of an American recording with a very Nordic-influenced sound". According to vocalist/guitarist Ken Sorceron, the EP was only released so that the band would have something to promote, explaining "a lot of the songs are, like, older songs, and they felt a bit old. At the time we were trying to make an album and we just couldn't finish it on time for some tours". After touring with Dark Funeral and Enslaved, the band split up in early 2007, although Sorceron later claimed that rather than a permanent split it was a pre-meditated hiatus. Sorceron and Wilson continued playing together in another band, and eventually asked AW bassist Thomas G. Plaguehammer to join them on drums. They decided to resume Abigail Williams as a band, with Plaguehammer returning to bass, Zach Gibson and Bjorn Dannov rejoining, and also Kristen Randall (Winds of Plague) joining the band. After a tour in late 2007, their drummer and keyboard player left, with Ashley Ellylon rejoining on keyboards and Samus becoming the new permanent drummer.

The band went into the studio with producer James Murphy (former guitarist of Obituary, Testament, and Cancer) to record their debut album, In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns, released in October 2008, on which the metalcore elements are absent, now concentrating on symphonic black metal, and has drawn comparisons to Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth. The influence of European metal, particularly Scandinavian, is again evident. The album took more than six months to record, and Trym Torson of Emperor/Enslaved played drums on all tracks on the album except "Floods", "Acolytes", and "Empyrean". Most of the songs were written by Sorceron while the band was on hiatus in 2007. The band toured Europe and the UK in summer 2008. In 2009, keyboardist Ashley Ellylon became the new keyboardist for Cradle of Filth, replacing Rosie Smith. In October 2009, Sam "Samus" Paulicelli also left to focus on other projects.

Abigail Williams released the deluxe edition of In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns on January 12, 2010, which included a second disc featuring four new songs, one unreleased demo of "Floods," and the music video for "Into the Ashes".

Abigail Williams has just finished recording 8 new tracks for the second full-length release; which were Captured at Conquistador Studios in Cleveland, Ohio, the album is called "Absense of Light" and the album will be released via Candlelight Records on September 15, 2010

Discography

Studio albums

• In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns (2008), Candlelight
• In the Absence of Light (2010)

EPs

• Legend (2006), Candlelight
• Tour 2009 EP (2009), Candlelight

Demo

• Gallow Hill (2005)

Videography

• "Into the Ashes" (2008)

Band members

Current members

• Ken Sorceron – vocals, rhythm guitar (since 2004)
• Ken Bedene – drums (since 2009), live touring bass (2009)
• Ian Jekelis – lead guitar (since 2009)

Former members

• Bjorn Dannov – guitar (2005–2009)
• Thomas G. Plaguehammer – bass guitar (2007–2009)
• Zach Gibson – drums (2006, 2007)
• Jason Kowalski – drums (2005)
• Kristen Randall – keyboards (2007)
• Andy Shroeder – drums (2005–2006)
• Tom Brougher – bass guitar (2005)
• Mark Kozuback – bass guitar (2005–2006)
• Kyle Dickinson – bass guitar (2006)
• Jordan Jackson – bass guitar (2007)
• Connor Woods – vocals (2005–2006)
• Ashley Ellyllon – keyboards (2005–2008)
• Brad Riffs – guitar (2006)
• Mike Wilson – guitar (2007–2009)
• Sam "Samus" Paulicelli – drums (2008–2009)
• Alana Potocnik – keyboards (2009)
• Tristan McCann – bass (touring) (2009)

External links

• Template:MySpace