Album Review: Avatar - Black Waltz

Published in Warwick University student newspaper The Boar, March 2012.

When thinking of Sweden, there are a few things that spring to mind. Snow, Ikea, Volvo. The female supporters of their national football team. A positive, liberal attitude towards life in general. All nice things for sure. Musically speaking, the country’s output is largely along the same lines: when taken in comparison with the darker aesthetic of neighbours Norway and Finland, Swedish music tends to align with Scandinavia’s status as a community of healthy, prosperous people on top of the world. It’s ABBA and Robyn rather than Lordi and Immortal. Avatar, then, are an oddity: a melodic death metal band from Gothenburg; a combination that shouldn’t really work. Or does it?

Black Waltz begins in an unassuming fashion with Let Us Die: a single-note guitar riff is gradually manipulated by a phaser effect before being blended into the arrival of a second guitar. Then, before interest is lost, all Hell breaks loose. The band comes crashing in, drums and bass doubling the tempo and bringing the song up to the speed and intensity of a rampaging herd of elephants, with all the finesse to match as vocalist Johannes Eckerström contributes the expected death-metal roar. Over the top of the chaos, however, comes an indication that all is not as it seems: a singular, frenetic harmonica lick. That’s right – a harmonica in a Scandinavian metal album. Moving from the opening salvo, Avatar do not relent, and yet at the same time manage to sound significantly more cultured than they rightfully should. Torn Apart is somewhere between Muse and Enter Shikari, while the title track careers between a circus waltz, a heartfelt guitar line, and thunderous, off-kilter thrash. Closing with the majestically slow, 9-minute satanic metal/blues crossover Use Your Tongue really does seem an appropriate way to put an end to the madness.

Black Waltz is not just another uninspired release by a Scandinavian metal band with questionable musical ability and a predisposition for blowing up churches. The 11 tracks segue together as a cathartic symphony of bombast and terror - a demonstration of just how far a metal band can push themselves with the help of a little creativity, and actually pretty catchy on top of all that. Sweden should produce music like this more often.

4/5.