Abbath Drops Title Track of His New Album, “Dread Reaver”

Last we heard from badger-faced frost-wrestler Abbath was last month, when the former Immortal frontman announced his new album Dread Reaver and dropped the first track, “Dream Cull.” Now, it’s time to once more take Abbath (HAHAHAHAHAHAH, unless you pronounce it ‘AH-bith’), as the dude has released the title track for the new record, which you can hear below.

Our dictionary app tells us that to “reave” is to carry out raids and plunder places, so in that respect, “Dread Reaver” definitely succeeds at the sound it’s trying to lock down. The song is a galloper, that comes off like it was written for charging across plains and lopping off heads. While it’s definitely not the cult black metal record which fans of cult black metal will argue that Abbath should be releasing, it’s definitely some very fun blackened thrash that’ll make for good headbanging. We especially love the Dimmu Borgir-esque spoken bridge in the middle.

It’s also promising to hear, given that Dread Reaver will be Abbath’s first since he got sober at the end of 2019, following that show in Argentina at which he was pretty obviously too wasted to play, and after which he had to enter rehab. Good to know that good, clean living hasn’t dulled the blade, so to speak.

Check out the track below. Abbath’s Dread Reaver drops March 25th via Season of Mist, and is available for preorder. The record was produced by Endre Kirkesola, Abbath, and Dag Erik Nygaard, mixed by Abbath and Kirkesola, and mastered by Maor Appelbaum (Mayhem, Faith No More, William Shatner, etc.). The album art was created by Bjørn Stian Bjoarvik.

Here are the tracklisting and cover art for the record:

1. Acid Haze
2. Scarred Core
3. Dream Cull
4. Myrmidon
5. The Deep Unbound
6. Septentrion
7. Trapped Under Ice
8. The Book of Breath
9. Dread Reaver
10. Make My Day