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What have you been up to?īasically ten years ago we learned how to play metal together. This is your first American release but you guys have been around for ten years. The affable front man was more than happy to discuss all things metal, world history and of course, ice hockey. I had an opportunity to speak with vocalist Johannes Eckerström to discuss the new record and Avatar’s plans for bringing their sound worldwide. But fans of metal–and especially Pantera’s faithful–will need a new pair of trousers after they get a hold of this album. If you’re not into screaming, this isn’t your cup of tea. On slow-burning “Napalm” singer Johannes Eckerström mixes iceberg-sized vocals into a a chorus that is, dare we say, anthemic? “Blod,” the only Swedish-language track on the album, is a wickedly enjoyable rhythmic assault and “Let It Burn” indulges in Manson-esque industrial flavors, ultimately marking the perfect intersection of death metal and rock and roll.
![when you like abba but you also like deathmetal when you like abba but you also like deathmetal](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/0028914507_21.jpg)
On “Torn Apart,” Avatar reveal what they do so well, mixing a straightforward rock attack with the more intense elements of death metal. The production is excellent, with a volcanic low end and just enough polish to enhance the more traditional rock and roll elements without softening the edge of the extreme aspects of the music.
![when you like abba but you also like deathmetal when you like abba but you also like deathmetal](http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/661/263/e73.jpg)
Such an ambitious outing could never work without superior musicianship and high quality songwriting and with ten years of playing together, Avatar bring both to the table. This is death metal with massive hooks, clean rock vocals and blues-powered guitar solos that synthesize into a collection of speed limit obliterating jams. With their new release, Black Waltz, the band have married the heaviness of death metal to the swagger and groove of good ol’ fashioned rock and roll. This month, a new release has blown in from the blustery streets of Gothenburg that sounds very different.Īvatar have been around for ten years and three albums, until this week flying entirely under America’s radar. Death metal burned hot in the west coast city of Gothenburg, where bands later polished the sharper edges of the style with clean vocals and melodic guitar parts, creating a distinct style called “melodic death metal,” or “Gothenburg metal.” Music observers, especially those outside of heavy metal, understandably shake their heads at the incomprehensible number of genres and sub-genres of metal, alleging that “they all sound alike.” Death metal–that sub-genre of heavy metal marked by growled vocals, distorted guitars, and machine gun drumming–was born in Sweden. Take Swedish metal for example, one of the country’s most enduring exports. Thankfully, there is far more to Swedish music than pop. Admittedly, the Swedes’ ability to take a well-crafted song and hammer it into a synthy, generic, digitally-enhanced slab of cow shit is virtually unparalleled. Apart from ABBA, one of the biggest pop acts in history*, Swedish music is written off as offensively overproduced, saccharine and thirsting for soul. Worse yet is the image problem suffered by Swedish music exports. Sweden is of course, neither, but a righteous cultural epicenter, where a high premium is placed on education, art and innovation. Tucked away beneath the North Pole, Sweden is seen as either a nation of impassive minimalists with great kitchens (thank you, Ikea), or a land of large-breasted blonde females with morally-casual attitudes (thank you, beer commercials).