Single Slam – Calm In Ire (Of Hurricane) by Abbath (Outstrider)

Black metal icon, Abbath, returns with the second single from his new album, Outstrider. This one is called Calm in Ire (Of Hurricane).

Outstrider is set for release on the 5th July this year via Season of Mist and follows the bands successful self titled debut from 3 years ago. You can read our review of Abbath here. The Norwegian black metal icon, Olve Eikemo, departed legendary black metal band Immortal before setting up this solo project in his name. Now a fully formed band, Abbath are Abbath on vocals and guitars, Ole Andre Farstad on lead guitar and Ukri Suviletho on drums. On bass we have Mia Wallace who replaces the original bassist King Ov Hell who quit, amicably but for musical differences as he mentioned in his leaving statement, below.

“I wish members of the actual band, label, and crew all the best for the upcoming shows and album. The music itself is nothing short of brilliant. However, I must maintain artistic integrity and respectfully step aside.”

Apparently parts of Outstrider are lyrically themed around Carl Gustav Jung, a famous Swiss psychiatrist but also someone connected to Christian mysticism. Something King Ov Hell felt didn’t sit right with him. Back to the music though and we have already had a single from Outstrider in Harvest Pyre. A decent start though not mind blowing. Read about that one by following the link. Let’s see how the second one is.

Calm in Ire (Of Hurricane) is just over 4 and a half minutes long. It starts off with the sounds of howling winds giving an instant image of cold, harsh environments. A slow and foreboding acoustic melody creeps it’s way in. The melody increases in urgency as electric guitars start fading in. It all drops with thunderous sounding drums, a thick bass line and heavy riff making for one of the best intros of the year.

Abbath jumps in with his familiar sounding growls for a line before a cracking little lead guitar line fires up. Calm in Ire settles after this into a more standard structure. The vocals pick up in speed of delivery and the drums double time. The guitars bang out a simple but catchy riff creating an aggressive and dark soundscape. The track switches to a wicked rhythmic section that is sure to get necks moving as the drums and guitars play out a quick and catchy instrumental part. As the song progresses, the lead guitars become more and more prominent. Little high pitch lines separating vocal lines lead into a fiery solo that ends to an extended roar from Abbath before a final spit of venomous vocals and chunky riffing sees the track come to a sudden stop.

Damn, Calm in Ire (Of Hurricane) is brilliant. Where Harvest Pyre was good but also pretty safe and standard, Calm in Ire (Of Hurricane) is expansive and creative. The building intro sets it off well and instantly grabs your attention as layer upon layer gets added. The vocals have intense ferocity to them and the drums have a real bone shuddering thump to them. What makes it for me is the lead guitar though. Little moments of flair that punctuate vocal lines before a cracking little solo. This is brilliant. Dark, brooding black metal at its finest.

Grab a copy of Harvest Pyre on all the usual streaming platforms. Preorders of Outstrider are available from Abbath’s Bandcamp page here or from Season of Mist, here. Keep up to date with news and information from Abbath at their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages by following the links.