Metal
Black Waltz Records
Release Date – October 31st 2025
Line Up:
Joannes Eckerstrom – Vocals
Jonas Jarlsby – Guitar
Tom Ohrstrom – Guitar/Backing Vocals
Henrik Sandelin – Bass/Backing Vocals
John Alfredsson – Drums
Track List:
Tonight We Must Be Warriors
In The Airwaves
Captain Goat
Don’t Go In The Forest
Death And Glitz
Abduction Song
Howling At The Waves
Dead And Gone And Back Again
Take This Heart And Burn It
Magic Lantern
Album number 10 from Avatar and as usual you never know what to expect other than world class metal in whatever form they feel. You have to remember that these guys have been friends and band mates since their mid-teens and what they have achieved in the meantime is truly phenomenal. They have no formula so whatever comes out is what it is, therefore, they cannot be pigeonholed.
Kicking off with the first single ‘Tonight We Must Be Warriors’ with a military snare and a penny whistle Johannes Eckerstrom gives us a call to arms which develops into a fist pumping power metal anthem before the grinding death/thrash of ‘In The Airwaves’ and the Viking metal of ‘Captain Goat’. The title track is introduced and driven on by bassman Henrik Sandelin’s huge bottom end along with a superb vocal melody which is catchier than the common cold. ‘Death And Glitz’ brings some twangy guitars and a funky beat before they stamp on the gain pedals and Eckerstrom brings another masterpiece of a melody over a punchy groove. ‘Abduction Song’ is proper jagged death metal then ‘Howling At The Waves’ is a beautiful dark gothic ballad that I cannot stop playing. I’m not sentimental by any means but this is truly world class. ‘Dead And Gone And Back Again’ is another example of Avatar’s ability to write something accessible to all. What a fantastic rock song with its jagged riff solid beat and melodic understated vocals. It’s simple and catchy with a hook that could snare Moby Dick. Things get heavy on ‘Take This Heart And Burn It’ which has the growly vocals and a spidery riff before the clean vocals on the chorus. Final cut ‘Magic Lantern’ brings some synths on a crushing modern metal banger.
Avatar have proved once again you don’t have to follow trends or be considered just one thing. There are songs on this album that my mum would like, some my daughter would like so it covers multi generations. I reckon it’s the Swedish ability to write superb melodies. This will take some beating for my album of the year. Great, super, magic, fantastic. Probably their best so far and that’s saying something.
Written by: Smudge
Ratings: 10/10
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