The fecal matter of an unexplained deity floating aimlessly in an ever so distant side of the universe. Rather pointless it is, disgusting in look, taste, and smell. It simply is waste from Yog-sothoth, Azathoth, or whichever deity you choose. Such is the case with the so-called "black metal" band Abigail Williams.

atrocious and absolutly gay excercises in what the band probably perceives to be "black metal".

Still, he adds nothing to the music and just comes across as an extremly monotonous and annoying Chihuahua barking endlessly into the night as you stuff your pillow of eternity into your ears in a futile attempt to drown it out. Feeble they are, as these shreiks of pointless and endless torture carry on into the night until you are lulled to sleep by their total monotony. However, Sorceron apparantly also let go a few stubborn turds during the recording process, and in result his voice deepens on some songs, resembling weak growls.

This review is pretty bad:
http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/A ... lendoscopy

Wow, homophobia, racism, misogyny, was there a cliche he missed? Terrible.

Racism? How is that review even remotely racist?

Comment in the opening about the Japanese. Probably didn't mean to be offensive, but it sure is silly.

This review is pretty bad:
http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/A ... lendoscopy

The author pretty much just complains about how shitty, "gay," and not black metal this band and album are. When he actually decides to discuss the music, the reasons he gives for why it sucks are bullshit and wrong; he probably didn't even listen to the entire album. It seems that he just skimmed through a few songs looking for stuff to hate and wrote down a few times. He constantly compares Abigail Williams to Whitechapel and deathcore, even though this album sounds quite different from both that band and the genre (with the exception of their first EP). He probably hasn't even listened to more than one song by Whitechapel, maybe one song with black metal influence or something. Also, he fails to grasp what exactly a breakdown is.

Is she notorious for poor reviews, or was this an exception? The description is very short.
http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/O ... 69/Skyklad

Time, Unveiled - 93%

Now here´s a band from the US I feel is extremely underrated and don´t get the attention they deserve. This newest offering, released on mainman Ron Vento´s own label, is a "no holds barred", adrenaline rush of unbridled aggression. They easily lay waste with thrashing, technical riffing, gargling death vocals and lots of speed. The soloing is particularly of interest and one of the main attractions for me as is the excellent, crunchy guitarwork. AURORA BOREALIS manage to meld the Death, Thrash and Black Metal styles very well and for those with a need for speed I recommend to check these guys out.

I still think there should be a purge of all pre-2006 reviews that don't meet the current site standards.

When I first heard the second track (the wonderful melodic intro that is), I thought, here comes another melodic/symphonic power metal band and since that's quite fine with me, let's enjoy....BANG! HARSH guitars (the melodic thingie remains), BANG! F***ing awesome growls join the ride and, woohoo, here we go!

we all know Darkthrone never do anything resembling innovation. It's usually just something resembling 0-0-0-1-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-1 repeat.

I'm told that, in their brief time together, the members of Ningizzia weren't often in the same room - one being French and the other Swedish. While that may not strictly be true, a lot of "Dolorous Novella" sounds as though it was composed at a distance, and it suffers from that.

A common problem with doom metal is that it's very difficult to be original. Stretch out too much in your compositions and risk being identified as a second-rate version of one legend, while the exact same fate awaits those who compress their music into shorter tracks. Sing in this way and sound like someone, sing in another way and sound like someone else. The genius of truly original doom is to take that template and manipulate it just enough to sound fresh and interesting without alienating the hardcore fanbase which expects at least something traditional.

Ningizzia, on the other hand, have released an album which is seemingly more than content to ape a lot of other bands. The result is something that's derivative and thus more likely to appeal to fans of the style than win new converts.

The most notable part of this is to be found in the harsh vocals. While these are undeniably well done, and treated with an echo effect to make them sound even more foreboding, they sound almost identical to a lot of Skepticism's work. Sure, Skepticism are a great band in their way and clearly someone any doom act would look up to, but sounding identical to them (the first two tracks in particular suffer from this problem) doesn't serve to impress any distinctiveness on the listener.

A lot of the rest of the album sounds similarly derivative. I can't quite put my finger on it, but throughout the album I've often caught myself thinking "I've heard this before, and better". It's all competently played and far from bad, but it's entirely generic stuff and not some massive new saviour of the style, as some have argued.

Hardcore doom fans will enjoy this, but casual listeners would be better off sticking to an established band.

Arathorn is band most have never heard of. They hail from eastern Europe and are on the slightly underground label folter. However, while Arathorn may be obscure they are one of the best folky/pagan black metal bands ever! Arathorn music was written all the back as far as 94 however their brilliance is still unreachable. Arathorn creates an extremely dark grim sound which at the same time adds atmosphere instead of disabling it. They utilize an accordion which I think fits even more brilliantly than finntroll. Their songs are extremely long and take the listener to a world of madness. When I listen to this cd I feel like im transported to an alleyway of medieval eastern Russia, where dead bodies line the streets and the singer Skoll is running around mad. extremely emotional and extremely dark, anyone who wants to take their senses on a field trip should buy this cd, if you can find it.

But there is a disturbing trend of mainstream-friendly material seeping into many of these songs, most notably on the two female vocal-led cuts, "Alesia" and "A Rose for Epona." The latter is even fit for rock radio, and the two of them together will probably get the band's female members on the cover of Revolver's "hottest chicks in metal" issue. You may think it's a stretch to find a folk metal band on the radio or touring with the likes of Lacuna Coil. But Apocalyptica's mainstream breakthrough once seemed just as unlikely.
...
The Verdict: For me, this is Eluveitie's The Village. It's the moment when I finally realize the artist isn't that great, and had only one brilliant moment. Turns out, I'm not actually a fan.

I'm more of the Cosmo Lee school of thought, which is that good metal writing should be, first and foremost, good writing. I don't always succeed. But it is, in my humble (or not humble) opinion, better than what often passes for good writing around here.