It’s been a funny old time since Abbath left Immorta; tensions, substance abuse and onstage meltdowns has meant that it has never been plain sailing weather. In fact, these waters have been rough and yet, somehow Abbath has avoided being sucked into the maelstrom forever. On the other side of this rough patch, Abbath has now returned with ‘Dread Reaver’, his third studio offering.
When it comes to ‘Dread Reaver’, this could actually be Abbath’s most accessible album to date; from its very start, ‘Dread Reaver’ lays itself out as an album of tracks which have been well thought out and executed. This is a big grandiose production for a black metal album, but it actually works miles better than anyone could have expected. This isn’t your normal tin box album, all about the treble, no bass, this is Abbath smashing it out of the park as tracks such as ‘Dream Cull’, ‘Septentrion’ and the title track conjure up a demonic whirlwind of black metal magic. Furthermore, even the mid-album cover of Metallica’s ‘Trapped Under Ice’ is decent.
This could be a real turning point for Abbath, yeah sure, it’s not as ‘true kvlt’ as his previous work or as Immortal, but who cares? So, a few true kvnt’s cry. With an album like ‘Dread Reaver’, Abbath really has the potential to push beyond his usual remit and with a new, clean life ahead of him, ‘Dread Reaver’ is the first chapter in a brand new book.
