Artist: Avatar
Title: Avatar Country
Genre: Melodic Metal / Avant-garde Metal / Hard Rock
Release Date: 12th January 2018
Label: Century Media Records
Review Flash
Start with make-up between corpse paint and a clown, take a dramatic performance in costume, and add excellent melodic guitar riffs, and the result is ‘Avatar Country’, the seventh studio album by AVATAR from Gothenburg. Originally playing melodic death metal, AVATAR later developed a more melodic, modern, and groovy style with avant-garde and progressive elements. ‘Avatar Country’ follows that path and becomes an intense and unpredictable tale of glory, of hunger, of power. Songs like ‘Legend of the King’ and ‘A Statue of the King’ present themselves energetic and powerful with majestic guitar solos and captivating riffs. The heavy ‘King’s Harvest’ with its raw energy and harsh growls is a nod to AVATAR’s death metal roots that creates a great contrast to the catchy rock hymn ‘The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country’. Technically, ‘Avatar Country’ is flawless although a bit excessive. Its glory lies in its guitar work and the progressive rhythms. The 43-minute runtime feels a bit short though, since the album includes a spoken track and two less extravagant instrumentals. However, these tracks perfectly fit the concept AVATAR present us.
Conclusion: ‘Avatar Country’ is a diverse metal album that creatively covers a wide range of musical styles and combines its fabulous gimmick with tremendous guitar parts.
Rating: 8 / 10
