AVATARIUM — Avatarium (review)

Album · 2013 · Doom Metal

5/5 · 2014-02-06
adg211288

Avatarium (2013) is the self-titled debut album by this Swedish doom metal act, who are near enough a supergroup; featuring the musicians Leif Edling (Candlemass), Lars Sköld (Tiamat), Marcus Jidell (ex-Royal Hunt) and Carl Westholm (ex-Candlemass) as instrumentalists, while the line-up is completed by a newcomer to the metal scene, vocalist Jennie-Ann Smith.

Female fronted doom metal, particularly if it also has a psychedelic influence, seems to have been a thing of recent years with bands such as Blood Ceremony and Jex Thoth making names for themselves. But where the recent efforts from those bands have veered more towards their psychedelic rock side, Avatarium enter this scene bringing more crushing doom metal riffs and leave their psychedelic side to be heard only in undertones. What makes the album really special though is not the four guys who've already made names for themselves, mostly in doom metal bands, but Jennie-Ann Smith's vocals. This lady's voice is beautiful, but in a way that doesn't detract from the dark atmosphere of the doom metal genre. She also has a bluesy vibe to her voice and her performance is made even more superb by the lyrics, which have a poetic quality to them.

Avatarium is a captivating release right from the opening track Moonhorse. Despite this being one of those albums that doesn't ever drop or even fumble the ball I have to say that Moonhorse, the first song I heard from them, may just be my favourite from the release. It's a difficult call to make when you also have tracks like the self-titled song and Bird of Prey to choose from, but Moonhorse exemplifies everything about the Avatarium sound in such a perfect way, gearing the listener up for the six tracks that will then follow. These further tracks don't do an awful lot to vary the formula, but it's clear that Avatarium have found a winner here, with evidence suggesting that could have made an even longer album than this and still pulled it off. The most different track of the seven would be the closing Lady in the Lamp, because it focuses more fully on Avatarium's lighter, 70's influenced side before reintroducing some metal elements towards the end, resulting in a perfect dramatic closing for the album.

It's always bands and albums like Avatarium that surprise me the most as a metalhead. I came to this album based on the hype it was generating and not because of the rather glaring Candlemass connection since, believe it or not, I'm almost entirely ignorant of that legendary doom metal act's work. The reason for that is doom metal rarely appeals to me, although I do tend to enjoy the recent female fronted acts I mentioned earlier in this review, Avatarium being the latest to find their place in my collection. Still, the point is I came to Avatarium with little to no expectations and they've blown me away. This is the sort of late in the year album (that I didn't hear in full until early 2014) that for me came out of nowhere and upset my top 5 albums of 2013. It is, in fact, one of only two albums of its year to (at the time of writing at least) earn a perfect rating from me. It really is that good. Ignore it at your peril.

100/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/avatarium-avatarium-t3295.html)