Kev Rowland Very few bands were able to complete a full tour in 2020, due to obvious reasons, and I am not aware of many live albums recorded during that period, but here is an exception to the rule. This was the set the band expected to take around Europe, but fortunately it was recorded in Stockholm for both a CD and DVD release. When the band came together in 2013, they were something of a supergroup, with Candlemass bassist Leif Edling, drummer Lars Sköld (Tiamat, Jupiter Society etc), former Evergrey/Royal Hunt guitarist Marcus Jidell, and keyboard player Carl Westholm (Tiamat, Jupiter Society etc), with singer Jennie-Ann Smith at the front. Only Marcus and his wife Jennie-Ann are still there from the original line-up, which is now completed by bassist Mats Rydström (Abramis Brama, Backdraft), keyboard player Rickard Nilsson and drummer (Christian Liljegren, Narnia, Royal Hunt etc).

Avatarium are a band whose career I have followed closely and feel all four of their studio albums are worthy of further investigation, although I am aware there are some fans who were not happy with the change in direction between ‘The Girl With The Raven Mask’ and ‘Hurricanes and Halos’ where they moved somewhat away from doom and more into an early Seventies rock direction. Hearing these songs in the live environment, in many ways it is a perfect amalgam of the styles, as the doom numbers are thunderingly heavy with organ lifting them firmly into the early Seventies style, while the rockier numbers have here been dealt a serious amount of doom. While there are sometimes concerns when musicians bring their partners into the band, there is no doubt that this time Jennie-Ann is solidly there on merit. Whatever the guys are dishing out, with the slabs of metal coming out of the speakers, she deals with it, rising high above the maelstrom.

But here is a band who are prepared to push both themselves and their audience into different directions, and one of the standout tracks must be the rendition of “In My Time of Dying”, which features just Marcus on acoustic with Jennie-Ann. For those who are unaware of the son, this was originally written and recorded by Blind Willie Johnson, a bluesman who use to attack his guitar with a harsh vocal approach and died some 75 years before this was recorded. They make the song their own with a totally different arrangement, and while it is totally at odds with the rest of the set, it highlights their strong use of dynamics and contrast. Another powerful example is the song which follows it, “Medusa Child”, where they flit between doom and commercial metal, all with tribal drumming in the background.

Over the course of their four studio albums, they have followed their own path, taking influences from different areas, refusing to sit still yet often imbibing their songs with a healthy element of doom, and this live album is a great look back on their career to date. If you have yet to come across Avatarium then this is the place to start.