“In ’97 I started listening to black metal Emperor was something I’ve never heard before. We’re more modern but we pay homage to bands that we listened to over the years.”

Finally unleashing their long awaited debut album after a couple of turbulent years, Arizona black metal crew Abigail Williams have banished the last shred of metalcore from their music and fully embraced the dark side of the metallic force. Entitled In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns, the album is a tour-de-force of skull-rattling symphonic black metal and an album that every self-respecting fan of bombastic brutality will want to hear. I was able to speak with founder member and frontman Ken Sorceron about the new album, touring plans, and more!

Kate: Hey Ken, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions with me!

Ken Sorceron: Hey, what’s up? No problem, sorry, I’m a little out of it. I just woke up (laughs).

Kate: No worries, I’ll just get my questions and we’ll be ready to go!

KS: Cool, no problem.

Kate: So how does it feel to have completed the new album [In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns]? How’s the feedback been?

KS: Pretty good, pretty good. We’re getting ready now to go out and tour.

Kate: What was the concept behind not only the title but the artwork as well?

KS: There wasn’t really a huge concept. Once the lyrics were finished the lyrics, I started getting ideas from them then I brought the lyrics to artist who was working on the album and gave him some of my ideas too. He took it from there and it all fit nicely.

Kate: Your sound has changed to pretty much full-on symphonic black metal, was that your intention?

KS: Definitely, when we finished the E.P. we started heading in the black metal direction. But at the time we wanted to just get the E.P. out and appease the fans we had, plus the singer and guitarist were more into hardcore. But then I replaced the singer and we replaced the guitarist and headed more in the direction that we wanted.

Kate: Is the Norwegian black metal a big influence on you?

KS: Bands like Dimmu Borgir and Emperor have a been a really big influence

Kate: How does the Norwegian black metal scene compare to the one in the U.S.?

KS: Obviously, the bands in Norway, Sweden etc… are the originators of the originators of the black metal scene. They’ve been doing what we’re doing now for years and have pretty much mastered that sound.

Kate: Who have been some other influences to you, music-wise?

KS: We go back to the old school. I started listening to bands in high school like Death, Carcass, Morbid Angel, and Obituary back in ‘93/’94. Then in ’97 I started listening to black metal Emperor was something I’ve never heard before. We’re more modern but we pay homage to bands that we listened to over the years.

Kate: There was a split between the band when the E.P. was put out, how’s the band now? More connected?

KS: Definitely, we’re a lot more connected. We want to just play the new songs the entire album all the time.

Kate: How did you get the drummer from Emperor get involved on the album ?

KS: I had asked him along time ago and about 2 years ago, the old drummer had quit again so I talked to Trym again and we went from there. It was one of the coolest experiences ever; he’s the drummer of one of my favorite bands. We had to record the drums in Norway but that was cool. We also brought in the current drummer so we could work him in on a few songs as well.

Kate: How did you hook up with James Murphy?

KS: I’ve known him for awhile. He was pretty much the go-to guy when it had to do with anything. We had wanted him to do the E.P. but we ended up doing it ourselves. With the new album, we had the budget to fly out there and have him do it this time.

Kate: Who have been some of your favorite bands that you’ve toured with?

KS: Dark Funeral is one of them, not only are they one of my favorite bands but it was also a really good learning experience. Suicide Silence is also a favorite.  They’re really good friends, we did our first tour with them in the U.K. We pretty much shared a van together, when you do that you either end up hating each other or really like each other.

Kate: You’re getting ready to tour with The Faceless! Are you excited?

KS: Yeah, I hate not touring. The other day I drove from Phoenix to LA just to do it. I actually still have that van we shared with Suicide Silence. I don’t have a job so I hate just staying at home and I can’t stay still. I need to be doing something.

Kate: Has it been weird touring with more deathcore bands now that you’re considered black metal than anything?

KS: Oh yeah, the crowds really don’t know what to expect but they end up liking it. It’s cool to be the band to bring that to the kids out there. It’s good to expand peoples’ horizons who wouldn’t have heard it before.

Kate: What are some of your future plans?

KS: We really want to focus on touring right now. We want to get the word out on this album. All of us want to get started on a new album but it’s not too realistic right now. (laughs)

Kate: Any words for your fans out there?

KS: I never know what to say (laughs again) Thanks for illegally downloading our songs. Just kidding, I hope thy buy the new album but I know it’s hard with so much crap out there. It’s not like when I was a kid and you just knew the album was gonna be awesome just from looking at the cover. (laughs) But thanks for listening to us and keep checking us out!

Kate: Thanks again for talking with me!

KS: No problem, good to talk with ya! Take it easy!

We'd like to thank Ken and his camp for making this interview a possibility!