When founding member ABBATH took the decision to leave the legendary Immortal following a protracted legal battle, it caused considerable consternation. Quickly recruiting a band that included Creature (Disavowed, Benighted) and King Ov Hell (Gorgoroth, God Seed) he returned to action with a 2016 debut that was met with considerable acclaim and which comprised a number of tracks originally planned for Immortal. However, despite the album’s success, conflicts emerged, with Creature leaving the band before the album was even released and King Ov Hell heading out the door in 2018. Nonetheless, ABBATH’s strong sense of purpose remained and the band, now featuring Ole Andre Farstad (guitars), Ukri Suviletho (drums) and Mia Wallace (bass), headed into the studio to record the much-awaited foloow-up, Outstrider.
With ABBATH promising a fully-fledged aural assault from start to finish, opening track Calm in Ire provides a suitably atmospheric, wind-swept intro that soon gives way to the band’s trademark blackened riffs shot through with folk elements and some astonishing guitar work. As always, ABBATH’s vocals remain chillingly distinctive, but there’s a maturity to the composition that is nothing left than astounding, the deft changes in tempo executed with a proficiency that will leave jaws agape. Offering no respite, Bridge of spasms emerges in a welter of superfast percussive blasts and jagged riffing, although it’s likely that ABBATH’s unearthly vocalisations will draw the most attention, giving the track a hypnotic, tribal feel that threatens to draw the listener deep into an internal vortex. Ukri’s ferocious drums announce the arrival of The Artifex, a gruelling riff-fest that offers up a series of searing solos before ABBATH’s vocals once more enter the fray. The guitar work here, as it is across the album, is truly exemplary and adds considerable depth to the piece, keeping the listener hooked. The first half of the album comes to a juddering halt with Harvest Pyre, a track which recalls the militant might of Satyricon.
Kicking off the second half of the record, Land of Khem is a harrowing blast of icy riffs mixed, as ever, with ABBATH’s alien roar, the track standing as the album’s most blistering assault. Next up, the title track has a slithery groove to it that is as compelling as it is coruscating, only for the band to sneak in some clean guitars that are almost stunningly beautiful in contrast to the frozen horror found elsewhere. Following on from the previous track’s ethereal outro, Scythewinder explodes into vibrant life, the battering assault of the drums providing the perfect backdrop for ABBATH’s horrific rasp. The album’s final original piece is the unhinged Hecate which flies past in a vertigo-inducing whirl of seething riffs, hyper-speed solos and churning bass only to suddenly give way to an eerie, even proggy interlude, which only serves to make the conclusion all the more visceral in its approach. The album, somewhat surprisingly, ends with a crushing Bathory cover in the form of Pace till death. A reassertion of the debt so many in the black metal scene owe to that seminal band, pace till death is played relatively straight, ABBATH clearly too in thrall to the original to risk any significant changes. As such it’s a nice addition, but it feels rather more like a bonus track when compared to the ravaged original material that comprises the main body of the album.
Tighter, darker and, perhaps surprisingly, even better than the acclaimed debut, outstrider is a stunning sophomore effort from ABBATH. The chemistry between the band members is evident, the production (handled by Endre Kirkesola, who also provides percussion, keys and samples on several tracks) is exemplary and the song-writing ferociously on point. A brutal, inventive ice-storm of NWOBHM-infused black metal, Outstrider is a monumental achievement. 9
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