Avatar - Avatar Country

It's been two years since I discovered this band, and I must say that I've followed their steps ever since. I was indeed eager to know what would come after Feathers & Flesh, which was a break with their previous sound back in the day and which I now consider to be a transition to a new approach, consolidated in this new album. 

Whatever your opinion about the band is, it is clear that they leave no one indifferent with their so characteristic and unique sound, so hard to define in a single genre. But what can you expect from this new piece? To be honest, I bought the album and decided to review it after attending the show in Bilbao, which provides further understanding of how every piece fits in this puzzle. Anyway, there we go...

As always, I first give the booklet a look and, oh surprise! This time all the lyrics are in there, unlike with Feathers & Flesh, where I missed them so much. These are little things I am fuzzy with about the format. Nothing important, but they add kind of satisfaction and quality of experience.

We are introduced to this new land with the anthem to the King, Glory to our King, which serves an ode to a living legend that has just come true and that is spoken about in the next song, A Legend of the King. Its lyrics, mighty and epic, could well remind us of a power metal song, unlike the sound. A Legend of the King gives the listener a great mix between melodic parts, such as the intro and fast, strong, rhythmical verses sung gutturally, along with catchy choruses and some bluesy elements presented in a brief breakdown.

After we listen to his legend, the King welcomes us into his utopic world: The third cut of this album sounds more like a classical hard-rock piece in terms of harmony blocks, vocal and guitar melodies (the guitar lines here are probably my favourite of all the album) and atmosphere, but still keeps the characteristic touch added by some disonances at the beginning and the end, Johannes's vocals and perfectly ensembling backing vocals by Tim and Henrik (while everyone sang along with Johannes, I was singing  along with Tim, ha!), and a well contrasting bridge towards the end. 

Next cut, King's Harvest, could perfectly belong to Hail the Apocalypse. One more reason to state that whatever the approach, Avatar's music always sounds like them. The atmosphere set by this song is darker and the lyrics are indeed powerful. This effect is partly accomplished by the almost total guttural singing. In fact, King's Harvest is, hands down the less melodic song in the album.

We're almost halfway through the album, when the king calls us to join him the American style. The King Wants You reminds me of that advertisement we all know in which Uncle Sam wants us to join the army. With its groovy riffs, hard-rocker style and fresh percussion lines (cowbells and tambourine included), it is possibly the catchiest song and also the most surprising as far as Johannes's vocal ranged is concerned.

Then, The King Speaks, acts as an interlude to let the previous material sink in, as well as giving a funny insight into the King's thoughts through a speech in both Swedish and English. It brings together the whole concept of a country led by a monarch and gives coherence to it. Besides, it fits perfectly with what follows, if we take into account that the video released for A Statue of the King is thought of as a big meeting with a speech, so The King Speaks is also a perfect prelude to the song that comes next. The so-called song flows frantically due to drum, bass lines, melodic speech (when the song is not sung gutturally) and how the lyrics are conceived and rhymed, transmitting the urge to have a statue of the leader.

The end comes nearer with King after King. During the album each and every instrument is given the chance to outstand and here, bass is arguably the real protagonist, giving a melodic dimension to the rhythm base laid by the drums. This the most remarkable feature of the cut, of which nothing else can be said that hasn't been mentioned before.

Finally, Avatar Country comes to an end with two instrumental pieces whose only aim is to keep setting the right atmosphere until the last minute, the first of it being more relaxed and far more descriptive (regarding the name of the song) than the second.

All in all, it's been a pleasant journey through this land presented in the album. The impovement of Johannes keeps surprising me. No matter if guttural or clean: he always sounds better, higher, louder, growlier, and more powerful. Drums keep on being one of my favourite parts, though the great talent of the King, Tim and Henrik is just undeniable. 

Avatar Country is an album that needs more than one listen, a bit puzzling during the first one. This is why I consider it not to be so good as Feathers & Flesh which caught my attention from the very first second. But the more I listen to it, the more I like it and the more little details I find that complete the map of this universe put together by the album. Welcome to Avatar Country and glory to our King!

Avatar- Feathers & Flesh

This has taken longer than expected, but here it is finally. Avatar is a band that caught me from the very first note I listened from them, so Feathers & Flesh was an album that I was really waiting for. It was so promising. I listened to it the first time as it arrived to me three months ago. With a great illusion I unpacked the CD. Great design, by the way. Illustrations are amazing both in the cover and the booklet, although I would have preferred to have the lyrics printed in there, so as to read them.

It was a stressing time, lots of things to do, but I decided to listen to it while completing other tasks. However, it was impossible. Little by little, I got into the music and it had me there, unable to do anything other than taking some comments for this post. It had been ages since an album did that to me! But let's talk a bit more in detail about what made me get lost in the notes...

The first thing one can notice is the powerful catchy riffs. They draw your attention immediately. Then, song by song, I can discover an infinity of details that I get lost into and make the album great. The drum lines seem to be the leading part in each song. The richness of fills, rhythms and percussion effects are just a gift to the ears. It's at least surprising to hear cowbells in songs like The Eagle Has Landed, Black Waters or Pray the Sun Away, or a vibraslap (Black Waters) or bells; for these instruments are more typical of other musical genres, but Avatar just made them fit in there. And this all without forgetting the technique and quality of the playing. Each stroke is definite, the riffs well phrased, etc. To sum up, there's a brilliant work in the drums.

Pretty much the same can be said of the vocals. I can only congratulate Mr. Eckerström for his job. There's a wide range of registers: clean, gutturals, torn voices..., which leads to a great personification of all the characters taking part in the story, and great combinations of those in songs like Night Never Ending or Raven Wine. Even at the beginning of Sky Burial there's a perfect a capella part closing somehow the album with the same verses it started (I find it gives that a high sense of cohesion!).

And hand in hand with the musical part, go the lyrics. All the songs together tell a story, a fable, and the contents and meaning of it can be inferred from the verses in each song (for those of you interested in reading the whole fable, Avatar's selling the book, so go buy it!). Besides, as we've just mentioned, the characters taking part are perfectly represented by using different voice techniques, and the atmosphere of each piece conveys the meaning of the lyrics (one can hear the decay and feel the end near in the riffs and melodies of Raven Wine or feel the epicness of Sky Burial).

Finally, the album ends with two bonus tracks (not listed in the tracklist) whose sound is far more death-metal-like but don't really seem to fit in the context (even if they are killer, full of energy, and sound like the best of Avatar). They are like a world apart: I've Got Something In My Front Pocket For You and Det Är Alldeles Försent.

To sum up everything, this album is a union of a great amount of effort, work, stunning instrumental lines and vocals, and a strong deep story. It would be difficult to choose a song over the others, but if I had to recommend the most remarkable hits, these would be:

• New Land, as a kind of flashback to the atmosphere in Hail The Apocalypse
• Fiddler's Farewell, for its ballad-like sound and those details that slightly remind me of the Beatles (was that made on purpose or was it by chance? Just wondering)
• Night Never Ending, for that festive atmosphere, so far away from the darkness of the story
• The Eagle Has Landed, probably the most catchy piece. Once you listen to it it's difficult to get the verses "What a sensation, can you feel it? Can you see what I see?" out of your mind. I'll leave the video here.

Definitely it deserves a couple (or more) of listenings to appreciate it. Hope you enjoy!