Interview with guitarist Ken Sorceron | By Tony Shrum
2014 will mark the ten year anniversary of Abigail Williams.You guys are kicking it off right with a tour. How do you feel about the band’s position after ten years?
Wow, I honestly hadn’t even thought about it like that but the band really started playing shows in 2005 so that’s probably why. I’m glad that we’re still in the position to be able to do long cold tours in a van in the winter after all this time to be honest.
Due to popular demand, the Abigail Williams tour has almost doubled it’s routing. Were you surprised or excited to learn about this?
It’s nice to be able to get out there and play for the people that have been supporting the band through the ups and downs over the years. One interesting thing about this band that hasn’t been the case with other bands I’ve been in is that we somehow get to play a lot of stops that not very many tours go to, like Great Falls, MT for example.
What’s the set list for this upcoming tour going to mostly consist of – older material, newer material?
We plan to play our last album, Becoming, in its entirety, plus two new songs no one has heard yet. We might throw in an old song or two on some nights depending if we feel like it or not.
I asked because on In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns you incorporated symphonic elements, while sticking to a more purist black metal on later releases. I was wondering if you’d be blending the two styles.
Well, I think the most symphonic song we have ever done is “Beyond The Veil,” which is on our newest album and we play that one every night. As far as that older synthonic (as I like to refer to it) stuff goes, we don’t play that stuff much anymore because it doesn’t sit well in our set with the stuff from the last two albums and also our newest material that will be out later in 2014.
You mentioned awhile back that you would no longer be touring the US and would be disbanding. What sparked the change of mind?
I tried to live normal life without touring for a while and it sucked basically. I guess I like to torture myself.
Will this be the final tour?
Nope, plenty more to come.
You’ve briefly mentioned a follow up album to 2012’s Becoming. Can you reveal any details about it?
Yeah, we plan to enter the studio here in Chicago in April and it will be out in August on Candlelight. I’m not ready to reveal the title yet, but the material is similar to Becoming in some ways but more refined.
If you had to describe the sound you were going for with a new album what would it be?
It’s sort of a fuzzy atmospheric sound, but with an emphasis on songs over just atmosphere for the sake of atmosphere. I’m not really good at describing my own music.
Can you reveal any plans for Abigail Williams after this early 2014 tour? Any teasers?
We plan to tour Asia, Europe, and Canada in 2014 as well as more dates in the USA. Look for a new song to be released online sometime after April.
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Abigail Williams Tour Dates with Erimha:
Feb 01-Tomcats (Fort Worth, TX)
Feb 04-Sugars Bar (Big Spring, TX)
Feb 05-Wreck Room (Amarillo, TX)
Feb 06-The Jam Spot (Albuquerque, NM)
Feb 08-Black Castle (Los Angeles, CA)
Feb 09-Jerry’s Pizza (Bakersfield, CA)
Feb 10-Midtown Barfly (Sacramento, CA)
Feb 14-El Corazon (Seattle, WA)
Feb 16-The Hop (Spokane, WA)
Feb 17-The Complex (Bozeman, MT)
Feb 18-Machinery Row (Great Falls, MT)
Feb 20-Hi-Dive (Denver, CO)
Feb 21-Lizard Lounge (Wichita, KS)
Feb 23-The Chameleon Room (OK City, OK)
More info on these tour dates here.
