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"Outstrider" is the second studio album by Norwegian black metal band Abbath. It was released on 5 July 2019 through Season of Mist.
User Album Review
Much of the album has an anthemic feel to it, particularly on the lead single, "Harvest Pyre" and the glorious title track. Yes, the guitars are made to sound like well-produced black metal beasts, but there's a lot of Accept, Dio, and Raven reverberating in the riffs as well. It gives the music a marker that says, "ah, this is Abbath!"
The production suits the album perfectly. The sound is big, bold and polished in a way that doesn't sap the riffs of their power. The guitars are honed, but not compressed and noise-gated into soulless clicking noises (the horror!) Speaking of not-too-much clicking, drummer Ukri Suvilehto carries the album in a fantastic fashion. He knows how to use the kick-drums, without overusing it.
The cover of Bathory's 1988 classic "Pace to Death" introduces something of a tonal shift at the end of the album, as its thrashing ferocity deviates a bit from the rest of the album. But who cares? It's Abbath doing a solid Bathory cover. Abbath himself is perfectly suited to putting his own spin onto Quorthon's vocals, making it a satisfying send off to a great album.
Outstrider works well as a back-to-front listen, less so as a collection of essential tunes that stand on their own. It's just a cool, fun album of heavy black metal. And that's all it should be. Abbath came here to rage, but he came to rock as well, and rock we will!
Reviewed by J. Andrew for metalinjection.net.
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