It is often said that "there is no such thing as bad publicity", and although some of the most hardcore and dogmatic members of the Metal community might acknowledge that gaining notoriety  in a world which we identify against,  may not be the best of ideas; some of the characters and representatives of the Metal world are sometimes, voluntarily or by accident, involved in phenomenons that become part of the popular culture which we are mostly trying to avoid.

One of today's most infamous cases is, Olve Eikemo  or as you might now him more properly, ABBATH; one of the remaining living legends of the current world metal scene, the former member of IMMORTAL, went on to gain world fame through his presence in (just like most of the celebrities nowadays) digital gags such as his fall before a show in Slovenia which ended up as a meme in more places over the internet that I can dare to remember, and a viral video posted on social media on how to pronounce his name. But even though, trying to be terrifying after becoming a trademark presence for most of us, can be a little harder in this pandemic ridden world, ABBATH does not let fame take the best of him and manages to release his third full length album along with some faithful and dedicated band members only three years after the release of "Outstrider" which I have to say has one of my favorite album covers of all time.

Dread Reaver, is an the embodiment of endurance and how determination and dedication can produce a third album in a period were not only the release of a physical work of music is no longer nedded due to the multiple music platforms available with three moves of a finger, but concerts have been put worldwide for almost three years now. The beginning of the record is a powerful and thundering intro with a huge load of in crescendo presences hidden behind a wall of an Avant Garde Death Metal riff and a vibrant drum roll that ensues in a colossal beat that is best heard in "The Book of Breath" the eight and next to last track that provides the climax of the album behind the closure that comes in track number nine''.

"Scarred Core" possesses some characteristics which may be completely unheard of when it comes to the prior work of ABBATH, but keeps an undying and upbeat tempo which makes this an excellent record to have in your collection through the highest and snowiest mountains you can find. The metric of the verses seem to be a journey for the artist to explore different and new grounds when it comes to his and his band's musical performance, with a huge resemblance to work by artists such as ROB ZOMBIE this track allows the listener to have a glimpse at a contrast in sound and timing as well as a balanced production transition, since the rest of the tracks have the same layer of production and this one appears to have one less to allow for the sound to be less Black Metal and more NU Metal type of measures in its verses.

A common element permeates all of the tracks in this album and that is the personality of the very musician involved  just like the balance that can be achieved in an outstanding track like "Book of Breath" or the beginning of Acid Haze and his elements of metaphysical concepts put together with the magic and bone crunching style achieved in this third record.