| CD REVIEW Avatar |
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Band : Avatar Having put down a sizeable history-of-the-band on the occasion of this Swedish Melodic Death Metal act’s sophomore album Schlacht (posted 29/10/2007), that’s where I’d like to direct you for your fact-finding needs. In addition to that info, let me tell you that in support for the album, a video (shot in a Gothenbirg slaughter house) was made for the title track of the album. The band started the live promotion of the album playing support to Soilwork and the rest of the Eastpak Antidote tour bands on their Swedish dates. Then, after a couple of loose shows (with Volbeat and Pain), the quintet started 2008 with a support slot of the European tour that would take them and headliners Obituary and Holy Moses on the road until the beginning of February, with a total of 28 shows (including one at Antwerp’s Hof Ter Lo). Followed several loose shows and festival appearances for the rest of the year, the ones specially noteworthy being the main support slot for Megadeth in the month of homecoming. They were then invited to play at the Close Up Báten, aka the mega-festival held by Swedish Close-Up Magazine, and in March they attended the SXSW (South By Southwest) event in Austin, Texas. Followed the band’s hitting of several Swedish town throughout the rest of the year, including appearances at Sweden Rock Festival, Arvika, and Metaltown (where the band fell in for Job For A Cowboy on a 2-hour notice, and left no-one leaving with a grudge), and Metalfest (as headliners). Pre-productions for their new album started in the Fall, which explains the band’s period of relative inactivity on the stages during that period. Recordings for the alum were done at Gain Studios between January and August 2009, and…well, the guys may have taken their time, but the album that came out of it is a real scorcher! For a bunch of youngsters whom originally came together as teenagers to play Metal covers, the guys have shown not only a very nice progress in instrumental prowess, but have also developed in songwriting skills. If anything, Avatar shows that the five musicians have come to a maturity which makes their music that much more enjoyable! For instance, they have incorporated strings in a couple of songs (album opening track “Queen Of Blades”’s opening passage, plus more extensively in “Revolution Of Two” and album closer “Lullaby (Death All Over)”. The guest performances on the album were this time not conceived as a “public eye catcher”, but rather as a means to bring some underlaying complexity in the music. Indeed, the guestlist may be less long than on the previous album, but most of the guests were asked to perform on several songs. Such is the case for Sebastian Olsson (backing vocals to “Queen Of Blades”, “Deeper Down”, and “Lullaby (Death All Over)”, but also additional clean guitar on “Queen Of Blades”, additional 12-string guitar to “Revolution Of Two”), Markus Hall (Hammond B3 additions to “Shattered Wings”, “Out Of Our Minds” – to which he also added cembalo, “Deeper Down”, and “Lullaby”), and Per Boqvist (added percussion to “The Great Pretender”, “Reload”, and “Roadkill”). Additional guest spots were set aside for Markus Härngren, Markus Tagaris, and Glen Gilbert (respectively tambourine, additional acoustic guitar, and backing vocals on “Shattered Wings”, with Härngren returning in “Deeper Down” to add percussion). In other words, the band has also kept things closer at home, relying more on themselves! Although there’s quite a few additional backing vocal performances, the vocals càn be done in a live setting by just lead singer Johannes Eckerström and his normal back-up, guitarist Jonas Jarlsby whom, together with his axe companion Simon Andersson, secures the tight and always melodic melodies of the music. More praise is due to the rhythm section of drummer John Alfredsson and bassist Henrik Sandelin, who provide the others with the firm but flexible foundation they need to work their magic on. Although the music is overall categorized as Melodic Death Metal, the music itself is actually a very nice Heavy Metal with Progressive touches, and the “Death” part is brought in mainly through the vocal delivery, with both Johannes and Jonas goin’ through several motions in the genre, from the typical growls and grunts to more Thrashy aggressive and some nice screams to boot! The whole is a harmony of brutal music with melodies, which simply entices the casual listener to keep on his toes for the goodies that’s to come further on down the album. In essence, this is one of those albums which you might try out in the record shop out of curiosity, end up listening to in an hypnotic state, paying for without question about the prize, and take home in that exhilerated state that come from the knowledge that one has of having bought an album that needs to be added to one’s year-lists! At myspace.com/avataronline, you can listen to no less than 4 of the 10 songs on the album, including “Reload” with its wacky horror movie sample opening (no, I ain’t tellin’, just check it out for yourself), “Revolution Of Two”, “The Great Pretender”, and “Shattered Wings” (for references to those tracks, check the guest-list above). Regrettably almost, that they didn’t include album closer “Lullaby” to be posted, the song featuring the cleanest vocal passage I’ve ever heard from this band! P.S.: There will be a chance to check out the band in live conditions, providing you live in the right neighborhood, as the guys are starting a 12-date European tour (which will regrettably only pass through Germany, the UK, and Holland – for details check avatar.net) late March in support of Warrior Soul. Although at the moment the band has only a couple of Swedish festivals confirmed for Summer, I’m sure some dates will be added in time, and who knows…maybe the guys will still be invited for a near-by event? Or they might hop onto a more extensive European tour, taking in also Belgium, later on in the year? Won’t be between Oct. 25 and Nov. 7 though, as that’s when they’re touring through Scandinavia as main support to Dark Tranquillity. 98/100 Tony. |