Album Review: Avatar Country

Avatar is comedic, melodic and charismatic metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. With jester like face paint and a marching band outfit the lead singer of the band Johannes Eckerstorm acts as a ringleader of a circus group. With the rest of the band dressing the part as well Avatar made a huge impact in 2012 with this unique look and gimmick. Although Avatar debuted at 2001, they did not make as big as an impact as they did in 2012 when releasing the new look along side the album ‘Black Waltz.’ Avatar is known to be special and unique in all aspects of music including their mixing, composition, live performances etc. Eckerstorm with his comedic performance and the bands intense

performance, they are known to be the best live act of modern metal.

Early 2018 Avatar released their seventh studio album, ‘Avatar Country.’ The album is a concept album about ‘The King' of a fictional country known as ‘Avatar Country.’ The king is portrayed by the lead guitarist of the band Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby. Eckerstorm hands over the spotlight of the band to Jonas as the full album revolves around him. The Albums consist of 10 songs and each song title has the word “king” in it. Avatar never fail to entertain with their music videos and live performance. They keep the story in their performance as well. The concerts start with the king rising from under the stage on a throne and ends with the rest of the band members standing still while the throne comes back on stage for the comfort of the king.

The album has a perfect blend of melodic metal riffs along side comedic skits as interludes. It starts of with a chant of ‘Glory to the King’ and leads to the ‘Legend of the King’ which is an amazing start as it starts with a guitar solo which shows of the skill of the king. Each song in the album sounds completely different to each other with different vocal styles and unique composition. The albums has amazing stereo imaging as Avatar love to “play” with the panning in all their tracks. The tracks keep the listener entertained and on their feet throughout. Just like every other avatar album the hardest part is finding a track you don't like.

References:

AvatarVEVO, 2017 December 19, Avatar-The King Wants You, Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_cHOXYkC3U

Enigma Sixx, 2018 January 8, Avatar-The King Welcomes You To Avatar Country, Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttqJ75sJVAo

Figure 1, Avatar Country Album Cover, Retrieved from http://bravewords.com/news/avatar-to-release-avatar-country-album-in-january-a-statue-of-the-king-music-video-streaming

Figure 2, Johannes Eckerstorm, Retrieved from https://musicexistence.com/blog/tag/johannes-eckerstrom/

Figure 3, The King, Retrieved from http://www.metalinjection.net/reviews/avatar-avatar-country

Teitelman, B. (2018, January 23). Swedish Metal Band Avatar Welcomes Fans to 'Avatar Country' With New Album & Tour. Retrieved May 2, 2018, from https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8095784/avatar-country-album-tour-interview