Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, Germany3rd December 2026
Avatar - “Don’t go In the Forest Tour 2026” - Support: Neckbreakker
AVATAR have been exploring the dark soul of Alternative and Melodic Death Metal - and doing so with consistent success for over 20 years. With their penultimate album, ‘Dance Devil Dance’, released in 2023, they taught Beelzebub how to dance, while their current album, ‘Don’t Go in the Forest’, skilfully balances the tightrope between intricate rhythms and catchy choruses.
Both approaches appealed to their global fan base, helping the albums achieve impressive chart positions in many nations. Their extensive tours in the spring of this year - including five shows in Germany in March - were equally successful, seeing them fill their largest venues to date in many places. Yet, the band has never been about hits and massive success - much more important to the quintet, centred around singer, keyboardist, and trumpeter Johannes Eckerström and guitarist and main songwriter Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby, is the continuous evolution of their multifaceted metal sound.
This was most recently demonstrated by ‘Don’t Go in the Forest’, which, alongside their proven stylistic metal ingredients, placed an increased emphasis on melodicism. The Gothenburg-based band chose their name very deliberately back in the day, as an avatar - the manifestation of a divine being in human form - describes how the frontman and his bandmates feel.
Since then, within their world of Heavy Metal and beyond all subgenres, AVATAR have claimed the throne as dark visionaries - an act that always breaks the mould, and one where surprising new elements can be discovered with every single album. Founded 22 years ago under the name LOST SOUL, AVATAR made their debut under their current band name in 2006 with ‘Thoughts Of No Tomorrow’.
Nine more studio albums followed at a two-year rhythm, alongside a meteoric rise that immediately crossed European borders. With their recent albums, AVATAR have broken open their stylistic foundation in melodic death metal with increasing boldness and consistency. While their eighth album, 2020’s ‘Hunter Gatherer’, turned out to be their darkest release yet - featuring bleak, industrially pulsing anthems about human cruelty, contempt, and loss - their ninth, ‘Dance Devil Dance’, offered a hard-rock accessibility unlike any album before it.
On their current and tenth album, which was released this past October, dreams and their meanings take centre stage - which, according to Johannes Eckerström, manifested musically “in the rhythmically most intricate and, at the same time, melodically catchiest songs of our entire career.” As always with AVATAR, there is plenty of reason to be highly excited for their upcoming concerts.
For their three German shows in December, AVATAR are bringing along the Danish Death Metal newcomers NECKBREAKKER, who turned heads in 2024 with their rugged debut album ‘Within the Viscera’ and have since made a name for themselves as a brutal live act that leaves no stone unturned.
Additional Concert Info
Doors: 18:30
Start: 19:30
Tickets: are available starting at 58.55€ (plus charges pre-sale) via Eventim
Info: https://turbinenhalle.de/events/avatar/
