Abigail Williams new album has a title and release date, here is announcement from their label: Candlelight Records confirms September 28 as the North American release date for In the Absence of Light, the second full-length album from black metallers. Recorded at Conquistador Studios in Cleveland, Ohio, the album was mixed by Peter Tagtgren (Dimmu Borgir, Immortal, Celtic Frost) and features artwork by Farron Kerzner (Nachtmystium, Lightning Swords of Death).
In The Absence of Light is true to the rules of black metal. The vocals are harsh and shrill, sounding like the product of a lacerated larynx. Guitars buzz, rip and roar alongside articulate, rapid licks and blazing solos. Drums slam and crash like exploding mortar shells, whether battering with blast beats, double-bass rolls or syncopated snare hits. And there is just the right amount of haunting keyboard washes, a noted difference to the band's previous album In The Shadow of a Thousand Suns. Vocalist/guitarist Sorceron notes, "There is a lot less keyboards on the new songs. I like keyboards, but before we started this record we decided to get rid of a lot of them because we wanted to do something different."
The album presents new band members, guitarist Ian Jekelis and drummer Ken Bedene. Joining Sorceron after Abigail Williams' final tour in support of In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns last fall, the trio quickly got to work writing material that would become In the Absence of Light. The album's eight songs contain far more urgency then the band's previous material; songs written exclusively by Sorceron.
"We let ourselves have much more room with writing this album, kind of a more open, free environment than any we have employed before," reveals Sorceron. "We literally constructed the songs as we went. Ken would be in the drum room and Ian and I would be in the control room and we just played for hours. We would listen back and pick out what we thought was good and we put songs together. We recorded everything with much more ease and I think it has helped in capturing a very honest vibe."
