Abigail - Alive...In Italy Review artwork

Rating: 8.1

Country: Japan

Release Date: 2005

Track list:
1. Violence, Kill and Destruction
2. Hell Fire And Damnation
3. Bitch We Gonna Kill You
4. Attack With Spell
5. Ilona The Very Best (Bulldozer Cover)
6. Atomik Destruktor (Toxic Holocaust)
7. Fallout (Toxic Holocaust)
8. 666 (Toxic Holocaust)
9. Warfare (Toxic Holocaust)
10. Outbreak Of Evil (Sodom Cover)
11. Charge!
12. Prophecy Of The Evening Star
13. War 666
14. Ilona The Very Best (Bulldozer Cover)
15. Enemy Of Jesus (Toxic Holocaust)

Abigail - Alive...In Italy

Yasuyuki - Bass and Vokills
Joel Grind - Guitar and Vokills
Youhei - Drums

Abigail. Live. You can't EVER lose out with such a tantalizing proposition. Don't expect a No Sleep Til Hammersmith or Made In Japan here, this will quite likely rank among the rawest live sets committed to disc, the sound quality not too far removed from the Abigail demos and rehearsal material. Additionally, it is apparent that they haven't edited out the awkward segments in between songs, and as such the listener is greeted with such cool tidbits as Joel Grind playing “Hit The Lights” during tuning/soundcheck, drunken Italian calls of ‘'one MOREEEE AB-EEEE-GAIL” prior to the encore, etcetera. Everything about this record HOWLS with honesty, locating the listener in a dingy, sweaty, claustrophobic basement populated exclusively with mangy, drunken, patch vest donning maniacs, and the engaging spontaneity of this presentation cannot be praised enough.

Clearly, a glance at the tracklist will reveal that this isn't so much an Abigail gig as an Abigail/Toxic Holocaust split bill, what with Joel Grind assuming duties abandoned by ex six-stringer Yasunori. While this might irk some longstanding fans demanding more original Abigail material, being a HUGE Toxic Holocaust fan I can find no fault with hearing Toxic Holocaust material in a live setting. While I would also have liked to hear one or two Barbatos nuggets and a more diverse setlist from Abigail, it is clear that Yasuyuki has thrown in a host of requisite Abigail anthems here…fucking “Attack With Spell” is here and accounted for, “Hellfire And Damnation” from the Welcome All Hell Fuckers EP, as is the thoroughly Venom -basted “Bitch We Gonna Kill You”.

The fact that Abigail play Ilona twice in this set is quite perplexing, why didn't they play another Bulldozer track instead? Regardless, the anthemic quality of Bulldozer's most rousing number is acknowledged universally, and I would imagine it has enduring meaning for the Italians who wail “ILONAAAAAAAAAAA” prior to the covers. Wedging “Ilona The Very Best” between their own compositions also serves to remind the listener just how referential of their influences Abigail really are, a debauched, throwback amalgamation of NME, Bulldozer, Venom and Onslaught that barrels you over and feasts on your decaying corpse. It appears that “Ilona” is to Abigail as “Am I Evil?” is to Metallica- a live calling card that lovingly maps the band's influences. The “Outbreak Of Evil” (one of the best songs EVER) cover is somewhat less relevant to the context of Abigail, and while brilliantly performed with Balor of Morrigan assuming vocal duties, I would have preferred a romp through all three NME staples represented on “Fucking Louder Than Hell”.

Ultimately, however, this release is clearly designed with the Abigail maniac in mind. At the same time, if you already own the Diabolical Night Of Infernal Desecration cassette and The Gig Of Wrath limited cd-r, I would say this is somewhat inferior to both releases, considering the fact that about half of it isn't even Abigail. Still, if you collect Sabbat obsessively (which, of course, means you own more than 5 live albums containing virtually identical setlists), I would imagine this will burrow its way into your collection somehow. The performances are frenzied, the crowd is rabid, the song selection is fantastic, the sound is upfront, urgent, utterly INTENSE. Somewhat inessential, but still a worthy purchase for all worshippers of drunken, Engrish rock n'roll.

September 14th, 2005