Abbath : " Dread Reaver"

 If you are hoping someone is going to carry the torch of Immortal, I think Abbath is proving himself the rightful bearer of that ring. His albums are huge sounding and thunderingly heavy black metal. The first song on this album really goes for the throat but is still a pretty thoughtfully written song even with all the rage it carries. Not if this entire album sounded like this there might be a problem. "Scarred Core" does continue to race with the devil at a rapid rate, though not driven by blast beats so that works for me. The production is very dense. The album hit you as being loud first and foremost. The vocals are largely buried in the barrage of guitars. Solos coming ripping out of the corners of the song. It adds to chaos more than the song. But the chaos is the mood of the song.

The clean guitar that opens "Dream Cull" was a nice touch. If the song had just blasted off the album would have become a blur. When it does kick in there is a more of a mood set. This was the lead single from the album and it's easy to understand why. There is more nuance and breathing room. The vocals almost capture a melody.  "Myrmidon" has a riff that reminds me of "Lay it Down" by Ratt. Though the heavier chug of guitar suppresses the more 80s under current. There are also times where his vocals are less of a croak and sound more like Lemmy. The 80s are over when the buzz of guitars speeds up for " the Deep Unbound". It is the first song that has felt more like filler as the guitars are just kind of going for it with little regard for the song.

Not that I am opposed to heavy. They do heavy with more than enough conviction with the more commanding chug of " Septentrion" the vocals take on more of a death metal growl in places. "Trapped Under Ice" is one of my favorite Metallica songs. His vocals here come closer to singing again, though it veers into the Lemmy  lane which works for Metallica. For some reason the more traditional metal dynamics embedded in the DNA of " the book of Breath" remind me of a pumped up death metal version of solo Ozzy. The title track closes out the album. The main riff reminds of King Diamond. There is nothing dark and theatrical about it so the comparison pretty much ends there it is just how the riff grooves. This album is the best of his solo work so far and I think the fact it is rooted in traditional metal rather than being overtly black metal or extreme plays into it's favor.