AVATAR: Hunter Gatherer (INDUSTRIAL METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

For the past few years, Avatar has been playing with all labels. The Swedish band led by its sinister clown Johannes Eckerström has lined up albums that show a strong sense of melody and an extravagant spirit. Like Dr. Frankenstein's monster, their dark metal has grafted to his whimsical body - and with some success - foreign elements, pop, progressive, thrash and even industrial. The announcement of the release of a new album by the Swedes could only delight the fans.

'Silence In The Age Of Apes' which opens the opus could obtain - despite a small wriggling guitar solo - the palm of the metal piece lacking the most originality. The next track 'Colossus' has a joyful chorus but here a first crack is revealed: the grunt/clear voice passages don't work as before (this second one being very bland). After listening to the album, the conclusion is cruel: few songs are memorable and the musicians could have been replaced by robots, with drums in mind, only the guitar managing to produce some sparks (especially on 'When All But Force Have Failed'). The album wants to tell the story of our humanity but unfortunately the theme seems to be too ambitious. Here, Avatar seems to have devoted all his energy to renew his wardrobe of disguises and his make-up box to the detriment of the music.

Survivors of the shipwreck, a few pieces remind us who Avatar was a few years ago. 'A Secret Door' has an impeccable vocal line in clear song short-circuited by the grunt voice, perhaps a little dusty ... However, the track remains pleasant to listen to, unlike 'Child', its degenerate twin (despite a short opeth-like finale). We will have a little indulgence for 'Wormhole' which lets us glimpse for a few moments the shimmering spirit of Avatar. With its melancholic piano and its deliberately retro spirit, the moving ballad 'Gun' proves that the Swedish band could very well overshadow Elton John and recycle themselves brilliantly in the world of pop music.

Avatar is stripping itself of the original outfit that once put it in the lead. It would be wrong to say that the band has bathed in a fountain of youth because, compared to their previous albums, this is a complete regression. The Swedes will have to remove their make-up, put away their puppet disguises and get back to playing their instruments as soon as possible to clear up this tragic misunderstanding. - Official website

AVATAR

HUNTER GATHERER

CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS

INDUSTRIAL METAL