Avatarium celebrates its tenth year with a fifth album.
Formed in Sweden in 2012 by Leif Edling (bass, Candlemass, The Doomsday Kingdom) and Marcus Jidell (guitar, The Doomsday Kingdom, ex-Evergrey, ex-Soen), the band relies on the voice of Jennie-Ann Smith (vocals) to create a unique sound. If Leif Edling has since left the band, replaced by Mats Rydström (bass, Abramis Brama), the quintet also plays with Rickard Nilsson (organ) and Andreas Johansson (drums, Narnia, Royal Hunt, The Doomsday Kingdom) for the release of Death, Where Is Your Sting, which comes out in 2022 on AFM Records.
A Love Like Ours and its melancholic violins begin the album before the singer’s voice joins and bewitches us. The progression in intensity is smoothly done, and the striking choruses almost imperceptibly become stronger by including Blues, Jazz and Post-Rock influences before exploding on the final, which guides us to Stockholm, a rather calm song which also shows some darkness in the heaviest riffs, contrasted by heady vocals. The dissonant and soaring leads contribute to this heavy atmosphere, before Death, Where Is Your Sting reveals a disturbing but fascinating sound. Motivating drums are perfectly coupled with haunting tones, mixing quietness and energetic rhythm before Psalm For The Living comes to soothe us with a comforting softness. Even when saturation appears again, softness prevails, unlike on God Is Silent, a very heavy composition which goes back to the band’s Stoner/Doom basis. Hypnotic leads perfectly fit the oppressive roots of the track which crushes us before giving way to its final keyboard parts, then to Mother Can You Hear Me, a track which revives softer sounds coupled with the heady vocal parts to guide the riffs. The inspired leads carry us along in their crazy dance until Nocturne, a much more massive and disturbing track that relies on screaming guitars and heavy influences to reveal a more aggressive aspect of their sound while keeping the airy tones. But the catchy sound will finally give way to Transcendent, the last composition, which takes us back into this slow melancholy before the rhythmic ignites one last time to reach the climax of this instrumental track, which will leave us with an obvious sweetness.
Avatarium didn’t stay inactive for long. If the previous opus already celebrates its three years, Death Where Is Your Sting comes back to sink us in a mix of melancholy, softness and sometimes even darkness to make the band’s unique mix live.
85/100