ABBATH : “Dread Reaver”

March 14 , 2022 | 12:12

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It doesn’t seem possible to me that a black metal fan hasn’t heard of Olve Eikemo or as he is better known among fans – Abbath Doom Occulta, the founder of Immortal and essential part from some other bands like Old Funeral and the supergroup I, so I will not fall into detail about his biography.
Since 2015, the remarkable guitarist and vocalist has expanded his imagination in the work of his own new band – symbolically named ABBATH, after parting ways with Immortal. Since then, the band released two outstanding albums with an epic statement.

We all follow the events around the band from the very beginning and we are extremely familiar with all the scandals around it, including the ones in our country, but I do not think that this should be any prerequisite for the evaluation of the presented music.
After all, it should be clear to everyone that the black metal scene would not be the same place without Abbath Doom Occulta and his contribution to Immortal and the formation of the black metal scene in general.

With “Dread Reaver”, ABBATH’s third full-length album, the goal is to create production in the spirit of the musician’s favorite bands – KISS, MOTÖRHEAD, MANOWAR and BATHORY. From the anthem opening song “Acid Haze” and the epic “Dream Cull” to the furious “The Book of Breath” and the crazy cover of “Trapped Under Ice” by METALLICA, the album sounds massive, fresh, lively and follows its own catchy atmosphere.

In “Dread Reaver” ABBATH present a new dose of their already familiar medicine, mixed with a small pinch of black metal, hard rock and heavy metal. Personally, this combination has always been interesting to me, because I mostly listen to more clean and raw compositions and when I hear flirtations with the sound of this type, they definitely catch my attention.
I really like the wild solos in “Acid Haze” and the vocals at the end of the song, as the whole rock ‘n’ roll atmosphere continues in the other songs.
The whole album is wearing a deep fragrance of dirty rock & heavy metal, which is not bad when performed in this way.

Compared to “Outstrider”, “Dread Reaver” is a much wilder album and here we can hear far more experiments in terms of composition, and as for the production – it has also been improved in several respects.

If you are looking for a typical black metal album, you will not find it here. ABBATH just doesn’t play that kind of music. They reach from their very creation to a more specific sound, and although you will not hear pure black, you will be able to feel the traditional black metal atmosphere in some places. Of course, not without hard rock solos and heavy metal elements.
In “Myrmidon”, another fantastic example from the album, we can hear hurricane blasts and traditional black metal vocals, for example, although they do not linger throughout the song, but act more like a breath of fresh air among the lingering solos.
Also, in the first seconds of “The Deep Unbound” you can hear a fast tremolo, and during the whole song you can still feel a little colder and harsher atmosphere.

In “Septentrion”, in turn, there are many segments in which you can feel the completely black metal spirit of the musician and is a pure reference to his great past. This song has a lot of everything – black metal vocals and fast-paced blasts, crazy hard rock guitars, heavy metal atmosphere and overall, a lot of emotion. A song that can make you sweat. Ole André Farstad stands out absolutely here, along with Abbath Doom Occulta and Ukri Suvilehto. One of the songs that are just a must in the band’s repertoire live from now on.

“Septentrion’s northern swarm rides the swell
Wolfpack storm our shores
A blizzard raised from Hell
Seven plagues sever necks
Seven gates to sunken wrecks
Sevenfold the demon realm
Southward bound to overwhelm
Serpentrion! “

“Dread Reaver” presents us various elements of hard rock, heavy metal and black metal, as each of the songs is transformed into an epic and at times, ritualistic atmosphere. It’s not the typical black metal music you can hear. You can’t find the ferocity of a traditional black metal record, nor you’ll recognize the traditional structure here, but the spirit is still preserved and within ten tracks we have a chance to witness the creative mind of Abbath, who always manages to get some surprises out of his sleeves. The album will be especially appreciated from the heavy metal fans,the lovers of the dirty riffs, the avid Immortal fans and, of course, people who just love to headbang on some really good metal.