ABBATH: Dread Reaver (BLACK METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Obviously, we no longer present Abbath, figure of Norwegian black metal. In 2015, his stormy departure from Immortal, of which he was nevertheless inseparable, surprised many. Contrary to his former home base, which has not really shone by an intense activity since this split, giving birth to only one release in 2018 ("Northern Chaos Gods"), the singer and guitarist has not been idle since "Dread Reaver" is already his third effort.

If Abbath will never replace the "real" Immortal, we have to recognize the solid performance of the eponymous album and "Outrider". Knowing the talent of the man, it would have been anyway surprising that this adventure out of the maternal bosom ends up in a disappointment. Supported by musicians who are necessarily all his friends, the Norwegian is the only boss on board, able to sculpt this black art of which he has the secret, epic and heavy, icy and sharp. At the risk of not surprising anymore.

With a signature that he will never abandon, the now veteran gives birth to a new opus that bears in its flesh its indelible bite. From this rough voice to these swirling riffs dug in the Permafrost, "Dread Reaver" is pure Abbath, whose imprint remains recognizable among thousands. No one will really complain about this tried and tested recipe, especially since it is at the origin of some very effective ('Acid Haze') and sometimes even brutal projections like 'The Deep Unbound'.

But as in the blessed time of Immortal, it is towards the petrified compositions of frozen atmospheres that our preference tends. Let's mention the gigantic 'Myrmidon' or the massive 'Septentrion' whose cold and dark crevasses are nevertheless bubbling in their entrails with a bestial hardness. In its last part, 'The Book Of Breath' is crossed by a bewitching blizzard that gathers these typical arpeggios of the master of the places while the mid-tempo 'Dream Cull' gravitates along majestic fjords eroded by the blows of guitars more heavy than black metal. The cover of Metallica's 'Trapped Under Ice' and this raspy breath worthy of Lemmy Kilmister bring out the eighties roots, speed and thrash, dear to the Scandinavian.

Perfect balance between torrential power and icy atmosphere, "Dread Reaver" doesn't surprise but doesn't disappoint either, driven by an Abbath who honors this abrupt and melodic black metal according to his heart without however managing to make us forget neither Immortal whose schism remains a beautiful mess, nor even "Between Two Worlds", the only album of I, his short-lived project. - Official website

ABBATH

DREAD REAVER

SEASON OF MIST

BLACK METAL