The Final Damnation

Whether it's by releasing a new record what feels like every month for the past few decades whilst maintaining their "street metal" sound, Yasuyuki's Abigail is the forefront of Japanese extreme metal. Lyrically, Abigail has not changed since their early 90's humble beginnings; it's so funny that the name of the record, "The Final Damnation" really only has to do with its self-titled song, the rest of the songs are all sex, evil, and metal. I think when Abigail was younger, Yasuyuki really wanted them to be known as the "most evil band in Japan"; now, it's all about having a drunk, perverse, violent, and fun time.

In terms of sound quality, this is Abigail's best record; with their last full length being in 2010, this 2016 release is much more refined. The whole album sounds clean and whole, I can hear Yasuyuki’s filthy cackle easily among the NWOBHM-like riffs and crashing and clanging drums. I know some people get afraid when I say the album sounds "clean", well rest assured, this album still maintains the nastiness you know and love from Abigail, only this time you can hear everything! You can throw the lyrics aside, we know the point of Abigail is not to really understand what on earth Yasuyuki is saying but rather to just enjoy how awesome the music is. You really cannot help but nod your head to every second of this record, the punk/thrash/speed/black metal is just a fantastic blend to party along to. The riffs are wild, not overly complicated, and I recommend that the volume of your stereo should not be anywhere less than LOUD. I do not have a favorite song from this record yet, but if I did it would probably be "Holocaust by Evil" because of how long it is, how thrashy it is, and how much fun Yasuyuki's high-pitched screams and gritty vocals are here.

I should mention that even though this is a full-length, it's only about 36 minutes long with eight songs total. The songs never get too boring where you hope for the next song, but it does feel at times that the songs could have been at least a bit longer. This album tends to have the same pace for each of their songs with just different riffs, which for some can be a little nauseating. However, I would argue that the blend of thrash and black metal makes the album interesting enough to hold your attention until the very end.

Enjoy this record, it definitely is not a game-changer to Abigail's sound or to the genre, but it sure is just pure insanity. It for sure is an improvement from "Sweet Baby Metal Slut" and I can only hope that the next album is an even better improvement from"The Final Damnation".