Despite coming from a background as abrasive as Norwegian black metal, Abbath has found himself becoming something of a household name. Be it through internet memes or the fact that he’s a seasoned veteran, Abbath’s third full-length release Dread Reaver may well divide or cause friction amongst fans.
Quite famously Abbath (the man, not the band) has never taken himself too seriously unlike many of his black metal peers, something that’s often allowed his musical projects that extra bit of accessibility, but surely there comes a point where tongue in cheek edges dangerously close to becoming self-parody.
Dread Reaver is the third album to be released under the Abbath moniker since his departure from Immortal in 2015 and it’s almost a farcry from anything that’s come before it. According to the band, the goal was to create a record that sat at a crossroads between four of Abbath’s heroes, Kiss, Mötorhead, Manowar and Bathory and although the album achieves this to a degree, it’s sadly more pastiche than it is homage.
Initially the album starts out very promising as ‘Acid Haze’ thunders onward with its straight to the point blackened thrash metal crossover, concluding with a trademark howl it’s quite the opening statement. Sadly, it’s all too short lived as ‘Scarred Core’ maintains the thunderous pace but quickly sees Abbath’s vocals shift into what can only be described as a karaoke Lemmy impression, fitting since the song also starts veering into mötorpunk territory though not entirely surprising since he also fronts a Mötorhead covers band named Bömbers. What took us by surprise becomes a fairly constant theme for much of the record, ‘Myrmidon’ teases us with the promise of some good ol’ Norwegian black metal but suddenly changes gear with some muted cymbal hits before straying off into this thrash metal / Killmeister worship. Though some of the Bathory influences can be heard here, it’s all a little bit messy and chaotic, and not the good kind.
Have faith though for it’s not all doom and gloom, ‘Septentrion’ manages to redeem things a little with its attention grabbing, icy grip. Here’s the unforgiving, frost bitten black metal we’ve been expecting, even if it does disappointingly end with a fade out. ‘The Deep Unbound’ also momentarily shines with its Venom-esque riffing but like much of the album it soon becomes messy, uninteresting and forgettable. Annoyingly two of the most memorable parts of Dread Reaver are the constant cheesy guitar solos that are more distracting than they are enjoyable and the questionable inclusion of a Metallica cover in the middle of the album – especially if you strongly dislike Lars & co.
Dread Reaver is by no means an awful record but for a band and personality with such a strong back catalogue, it’s certainly an uninteresting addition that pales in comparison to any previous works. Perhaps the self-professed “Lemmy of black metal” has taken his title a little too seriously and swapped out substance for character and persona, resulting in a release that despite two years in the making, is bit of a let-down overall.