Screaming for Grace / Abigail

Abigail is one of the very first Japanese black metal band, forming as the second wave of black metal was starting. Although from a quick casual listen, their first demos sounded as directly influenced by the then new breed of metal - probably due to them having one of the worst production ever, effectively nullifying any notion of art - several earlier influences were distinguishable after more cautious listens. The faster blasting moments were then a lot more similar to Blasphemy than any fast passages present in the Norwegian style, as the more mid paced ones had the, dare I say, "old school" attitude of early Sodom and Hellhammer. The preconception may also be attributed to their brothers of Sigh ep Requiem for Fools being more resembling of the Northerners, as well that Euronymous signed them to his DSP label after getting hold of it. And it kind of became true on Abigail's first ep Descending from a Blackened Sky, it seemed as if Abigail wanted to try out making black metal like the Norwegians. In 1995, two years after that ep, they got a deal to do a split release with the Netherlands' Funeral Winds, resulting in the former's self-titled and the latter's Screaming for Grace.

The split begins with the Funeral Winds side. I first had a predisposed disliking of the band after previously hearing their Thy Eternal Flame ep. I found it to be some quite mediocre, run-of-the-mill, blasting raw black metal, not unlike the Swedish Marduk. My view on the band didn't change that much, but their piece of the collaboration here is quite an improvement. The opener, "Twilight Shine upon My Crypt / The Fiery Winds of Our Revenge / Resurrection of the Five Winds" is what such title would make you think is; three similar in mood songs put together by small interludes to feel like some epic track. It's quite useless, there is a stronger sense of consistency and connection, but you don't need to put tracks together to do so. Unlike Marduk - and their previous ep - there are tempo changes, those mid paced moments being similar to Carpathian Forest's breaks of tremolo and grimness. The faster tremolo picked passages also bear some similarities to Judas Iscariot's genre of windy, atmospheric riffing and drumming as well as Hate Forest. The latter due to the moments where the riffing becomes a little "incoherent", the little melodies being played behind, they are still audible but it's another way to create a sense of coldness. It has quite a Hate Forest vibe during those moments and Funeral Winds also like to throw out a couple of really faint keyboards here and there to give texture and mood like the aforementioned band does. Quality-wise, it varies a lot. Some blasting passages are just annoying, the riffs being the prime of generic. But there are a bunch of good riffs throughout the ep, particularly when they slow down, making the whole thing an interesting release albeit unremarkable.

Abigail's side is an odd piece. It kind of stands between two different styles of theirs; their try at the Norwegian style in a first time, and their upcoming thrashier style in a second one. Not that the songs are some kind of blackened thrash - some songs would - but both styles are present in separate songs. It's like they already changed their sound but wanted to do a black metal release with Funeral Winds but had only to songs to fit, thus using two new ones and giving the whole thing a very black metal sound. So it starts with their black thrash classic "Attack with Spell", immediately urging you to headbang. It's slightly less effective as it is slower, but along a rawer and sloppier sound it makes an interesting alternative, although it doesn't get near the album version. And you've got to find the quite heavy metal solo out of place, considering the general production and following tracks. The other thrashier song is "The Crown Bearer", also present on Intercourse and Lust. It was not the best track off the album, but with less speed and a yet uncut tremolo blasting ending, it helps give itself a stronger black metal feel, fitting better on the split than the opener. "Dead God of Kemet" is a continuation of the Norwegian sound found on Descending from a Blackened Sky, some riffs could almost have been on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas or a Darkthrone album. Special mention to the song writing at display here, Yasuyuki goes through a couple of tempo changes, blasting his way with tremolo picking, slowing down the same pattern, speeding another one, wandering through different states. There is still a slight Hellhammer influence discernible and he really makes sure it's not repetitive, there may be a hint as to why he went to fast pace speed/thrash metal, he probably liked things better when they weren’t too much doing standstill. "We Shall not Await the Dawn" starts off with blasting similar to what Funeral Winds were doing earlier, and it could've been a lot better. Fortunately, after slowing a little and returning, Yasuyuki does some kind of chanting in the background giving a similar texture than keyboards would do. It’s a good track overall though not as good as "Dead God of Kemet". Yasuyuki never was a real vocalist. While it's obvious now he's just screaming as if he was drunk during some party and wanted to try out some "harsh" vocals or any style he may have tried - and afterwards added tons of some effects so it could sound better - he didn't seem to be that better at doing raspy black metal vocals. They seem choked, as if he couldn't do it louder. So all his deliveries are rather restrained and he still uses some effects (though a lot less) to make them sound better. Still, it's more than listenable, not bad enough to be an annoyance and some people may even prefer his style here than what could be migraine inducing to them. "Darkness Steals" is another of his weird keyboards only track, a it's quite possibly his worse. It sounds as if it was lifted from a Nintendo game, and tries around adding some patterns and trying to do something with it.

All in all it's a good split. Abilgail's side is a rather interesting piece, offering two of their real black metal songs, but you understand why the guys tried something else. You can also see its shortcomings, as two songs are subsequently on Intercourse and Lust in way better versions. The two pure black metal are good, but doesn't offer anything particular except an interesting bit of history for Abigail fans. The Funeral Winds side isn't much more than good, and considering how unremarkable it is, it lowers the attraction of such split. For Abigail fans only.