Bonustracks 10-14: "1st Demo (1992)". Kamikaze Thrashin’ Black Metal from Japan . Reissue!!
Reissue standard Jewel case CD – includes Bonus tracks & Purple Metallic ink
The amounts of alcohol consumed during the production of "Intercourse and Lust" must of been extraordinary... indeed, Abigail sound like they know their way around a six pack and a stack of Motorhead records. This is 100%, raw as fuck, satanic (probably?), hellfucking grim speedmetal from Japan. Nothing technical or pretty, but if you dig bands like Venom, old school Bathory and Imp. Naz, Abigal will leave you in stitches. HAIL YAKUZA!
Pretty simple concept.. heavily distorted speed metal riffs + the most indicipherable black metal vocals. Since I have no idea what the lyrics are and the spoken word parts are all in Japanese, I'm assuming the lyrics are Japanese as well. Maybe broken English, (or "kamakaze" according to Metallucifer) like "Attack With Spell".
I actually prefer Abigial's slower, more traditional inspired songs like Attack With Spell and the most excellent Mephistoles.... really fun to listen to. Their faster numbers (Bonehunter, A Witch Named Spilucetta) all kick ass... basically this is a really cool album for modern black-thrash fans!!
Abigail are one of Japan's main metal exports, and on this album, they show why. From start to finish, this album is pounding blackened thrash. The production is fucking raw and brutal, and helps add that little bit extra to this album.
In general, this album is a lot more black metal than thrash. All the vocals are a black metal scream/growl and there is hardly a thrash riff to be found in most of the songs. However, that does not take away from this album one bit and they do find space for some thrash excellence on tracks like "The Crown Bearer" and "Attack With Spell".
Overall, this album is excellent. Try and get your hands on it if you can.
Japan’s Abigail has been a flagship band in the NWN! camp since the beginning of the label’s existence. In the more than 20 years of Abigail’s existence the bands has undergone a noticeable stylistic evolution from sinister Yakuza Black Metal to the band’s later period of sexualcoholic Street Metal Thrash. Up until the mid-1990s, Abigail was known exclusively for its Black Metal sound and ranked alongside Sabbat and Sigh among Japan’s most evil exports. The handful of demos Abigail released between 1992 and 1996 saw Abigail ushering in its malefic strain of Black Metal and securing for the band a prominent position among the elite bands within the genre’s Second Wave emanation. Abigail’s debut album, released by Modern Invasion in 1996, highlights the manner in which Abigail infused its traditionalist Black/Thrash approach with eccentric embellishments. The album, “Intercourse and Lust,” stands as a monument to the Far East Black Metal sound. When NWN! was still in its infancy, YK Insulter reached out to Abigail to seek approval to commit this legendary album to vinyl. Abigail agreed and, in 2002, NWN! released the LP, which became one of the first and most highly regarded releases on the label. Later that year, with the assistance of NWN!, Abigail made its first landing on U.S. soil and committed unholy acts before American audiences – monumental gigs that secured Abigail’s prominence in the West. “Intercourse and Lust” has stood the test of time and is as relevant in 2013 as it was when it was initially released. Driven by Yasuyuki’s bass combined with Youhei’s drums, the album is solidly anchored. Former guitarist Yasunori guided the band through searing, off-kilter Black Metal tracks such as “A Witch Named Aspilcuetta” and “Confound Eternal” while also steering more traditional Blackened Thrash oriented tracks like “The Bone Hunter” or the hammering frenzy of “The Crown Bearer.” “Intercourse and Lust” showcases the ability of the three-piece band to deftly interpose elements of myriad styles into the overall sound of the album. Yasuyuki’s familiar vocal rasp adds the final sonic flourish. The lyrics on “Intercourse and Lust” are noteworthy because many of the songs were written by Chuck Keller (Order From Chaos, Vulpecula, Ares Kingdom) and bear the evocative and poetic mark of his lyrical imagery. Juxtaposed with Keller’s lofty lyrical approach is the street-gutter violence of tracks like “Attack with Spell” and “Hail Yakuza,” the latter of which concludes the album with a series of Yakuza film samples. As Abigail’s popularity has grown dramatically through the past decade, “Intercourse and Lust” has assumed the stature of a classic album.
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