2) Who would be on Abigail Williams' dream tour?
Metallica, of course, mid-’80s, Cliff Burton still alive. Or Ministry ’89-’91. Both require a time machine.
3) Who would you say are Abigail Williams' five biggest musical influences?
Most of these you probably couldn’t tell, but off the top of my head:
- Emperor
- Ministry
- Arcturus
- My Dying Bride
- Slayer
4) The new album’s cover art and title seem like part of a move in a less warlike, more metaphysical direction for Abigail Williams. Is that intentional, or just how the music has developed over time?
Well, the music has definitely evolved a lot over the years from album to album. I try to do something new so that it stays interesting for me. On this album, I wanted to bring together some of the elements from the previous albums while also exploring some new territory sonically. I tried to maintain some of the atmosphere of the last couple releases while going for a more polished, clean production unlike the last two records which used a grittier, more lo-fi approach. That's what the mood called for on those two, as sometimes you want that washed-out fuzz to cloak the sound and add to the ambience like a layer of fog.
Other times you want to peel back the veil and let the details speak for themselves and echo in the void. Walk Beyond The Dark embraces space and lets you hear everything with clarity, and often it can be more powerful to have that sense of pressure and depth in a large open space than a claustrophobic one, like the opening to Born of Nothing.
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5) In your opinion, why, when so many other American black metal bands have crapped out or gone derivative, have Abigail Williams stayed alive?
I think it’s a combination of not paying attention to what people have to say about the band, whether it’s in print or in the comments section, and just staying true to whatever we feel like doing at the time. Just don't care about what anyone thinks and make the music you genuinely want to make, because when you get caught up in what other people want, you're going to give them something they've already had a million times before, and then nobody is happy anyway. Might as well do it on your own terms so you can enjoy what you make at the very least.
Listen to an exclusive stream of Abigail Williams's new single, Ever So Bold, below: