Abbath unveil video for Dream Cull as taster for new album Dread Reaver

Norwegian black metal icon Abbath Doom Occulta has announced that Dread Reaver, his third album with his eponymous project Abbath, will be released via Seasons Of Mist on March 25.

And for those who can’t wait to hear what thrills await on the follow-up to 2019’s Outstrider, the good news is that the video for the album’s first single, Dream Cull, is available to view right now.

Dread Reaver was produced by Endre Kirkesola, Abbath, and Dag Erik Nygaard at Dub Studio in Kristiansand and Bergen Lydstudio: a cover of Metallica’s Trapped Under Ice is included among its 10 tracks.

The full track list is:

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

Abbath album — (Image credit: Seasons Of Mist)

The record company says: “While there are nods to NWOBHM greats, thrash metal’s luminaries, and black metal icons, Dread Reaver is unmistakably Abbath. There is no other fingerprint. Paired with thought-provoking lyrics based on the historical figure of Othryades, Abbath’s third album not only shouts exultant but reads like an ancient pyrrhic tale steeped in violence, sorrow, and grit. The idea of a Dread Reaver—a fearless duelist—can also be read as a metaphor for life’s actions and subsequent struggles. Be warned: Dread Reaver is Abbath at his most menacing and accomplished.”

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.