Avatar - Avatar

I have to admit that until recently when I was listening to the word “Avatar” it reminded me of the popular James Cameron’s film which obviously is completely irrelevant to these Swedish Deathsters.
\r\n“Avatar” are on the melodic death metal scene since 2003 and so far they have released 2 full length albums (this one here’s the third one). So we have “Thoughts Of No Tomorrow” -2006 and “Schlacht”-2007. Their compositions on this self-titled, as expected, are full of these familiar “Swedish” melodies with the vocals changing from brutal growls to “clean-but-aggressive”. Avatar’s sound (and I am talking about the sound and not the compositions) will probably bring to your mind a more melodic approach of In Flames (especially the way they sound on “Clayman”)
\r\nIn this one there are some tracks that really manage to stand out. These in my opinion are “Queen Of Blades” and “Out Of Minds” due to their epic feeling they give out (I would dare to say that their atmosphere reminded me of Amon Amarth in some parts) of course this doesn’t mean that the other compositions aren’t as decent. The production is simply perfect with the guitars leading the way and the rhythm section grooving were it is needed.
\r\nSo if you are into melodic death metal (well …over-melodic I’d say) you’ll surely find these guys more than interesting.
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\r\nDimitris Karantounias\r\n