Swedish metal gods Avatar returned to the US last week and I have lots to say about it, having had the pleasure and privilege of covering the Norfolk, VA date Saturday night. Avatar continues to hit home runs with their support acts—last year’s tour with Native Howl and Orbit Culture was incredible, and on this quick headlining tour they knock it out of the park with Conquer Divide and Oxymorrons.
The freak show was still assembling when Oxymorrons took the stage at 8PM. From New York, Oxymorrons (brothers Demi “Deee” and Kami “KI,” drummer Matty Mayz and vocalist/guitarist/bassist Jafe Paulino) produce a mashup of rap, rock, funk, and punk that they refer to as “melanin punk.” It makes for an explosive sound and frankly an awesome way to get the night rolling.
The dual vocalist brothers have bottomless energy, weaving around and playing off each other while performing and working the crowd. They excel at it and are very easy to like. Meanwhile, Mayz and Paulino pound out the punk rock sounds. It makes for delightful, barely contained chaos and is a ton of fun to watch.
Arguably the cherry on top of all this is the band’s message of justice and self-acceptance. So, roll up wearing your bunny ears and mismatched socks with loafers, come out in your spiked ski mask and Wampa-looking furry boots. Be your “weird-ass” self. Oxymorron’s latest album is Melanin Punk, which includes banger “Look Alive,” a track that made Billboard’s Maintream Rock chart.
Michigan based Conquer Divide then took the stage as the next act. Interestingly, this band also has two vocalists (Kia Castillo and Madison Spencer) along with guitarists Kristin Sturgis and Isabel Johnson, and drummer Samantha Landa. I was at the show in Indianapolis earlier that week, and these young women bore the brunt of what was a disastrous sound problem at the venue. They were only able to play three songs before it was determined that the issue was unfixable, and they had to leave the stage. The women were pros about the whole thing, engaging with the crowd and treating us all to some impressive a cappella work before taking their bows.
The crowd in Indianapolis did not get to experience the full force of Conquer Divide’s sound like Norfolk did. The band’s latest album is 2023’s Slow Burn; it’s noted as featuring a more hard rock sound than the metalcore of their previous work. Live, the vocalists balance clean and unclean vocals, while the guitarists and drummer are adept at laying down the band’s rock and metal foundations. The lyrical content gets just as heavy. As examples, “Paralyzed” addresses issues of mental health and took inspiration from Kristin Sturgis’ experiences as a critical care nurse during COVID and “welcome2paradise” has an environmental message based on situations close to home for Sturgis.
While the Norfolk crowd was mostly unfamiliar with Conquer Divide at the beginning of the night, by the set’s end they’d won over the crowd. When the show was over, I spotted young fans getting pictures with the women outside the venue.
Avatar had a big 2023. In February, the Swedes (Johannes Eckerström, Jonas Jarlsby, Henrik Sandelin, John Alfredsson, and Tim Öhrström) released Dance Devil Dance, their successful ninth studio album, Late last summer, the single “The Dirt I’m Buried In” took the number one slot on Billboard’s Maintstream Rock Airplay chart. The release of the album was accompanied by extensive touring in Europe, the US, and even Australia. A fall tour as support for the In This Moment/Ice Nine Kills coheadling tour exposed them to new audiences.
If that weren’t enough, the band also had a fossil unearthed in southern Sweden named in its honor. Discovered Dr. Ben Thuy, a paleontologist at the Luxembourg Natural History Museum, the 80-million-year-old, brittle star is now known as Ophiocoma avatar. The name is valid forever, so unlike the rest of us, a little bit of Avatar will live on for eternity.
Avatar continues the winning streak into 2024. The year kicked off with more European touring, selling out most of France, and included two screenings of their fun documentary chronicling the recording of Dance Devil Dance in Sweden. I flew over for the London screening and the first date of the European tour and had a marvelous time. They then toured Latin America, including their first headlining dates in Mexico, selling out several venues. Last Wednesday, they returned to the US, kicking off a short headlining tour in Indianapolis and made a stop at the NorVa Saturday night.
The 2024 setlist does not contain any surprises, which is fine, as the show Avatar assembled is still stacked with old fan favorites—“Bloody Angel,” “Smells Like a Freakshow,” “Colossus,” and the rest, as well as bangers from Dance Devil Dance. Hopefully, “Valley of Disease” will have at least a semi-permanent place in the lineup on future tours.
The one deviation from last year’s set is the inclusion of “Make It Rain,” a B-side that the band released earlier this year, along with “The Other Side of Tonight.” Both became fast fan favorites. Live, “Make it Rain” kicks as much ass as the recording, with many fans noting the ferocious growling vocals contributed by bassist Henrik Sandelin. Imagine the “Bomb! Bomb! Bomb! Bomb! Bomb!” blowing up in your face like in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. It’s great.
We’re nearing the end of the Dance Devil Dance era—word on the street is that Avatar will keep the touring to a minimum in 2024 so they can start working on their next album. Indeed, after Milwaukee Metal Fest, the only touring on the books is a supporting slot on the continuation of the In This Moment/Ice Nine Kills coheadling tour late this summer.
Taking that into consideration, and observing other people at recent shows and online, I decided it is time to start diving into a question I’ve been thinking about recently: What makes Avatar so special to their fans?
What is it about them that will motivate grown adults, even the middle aged, to roll into a parking lot at 9AM to line up for doors that open at 6:30? What would motivate people, younger and young-at-heart alike, to travel (sometimes alone) to each date on this tour, which are scheduled back-to-back-to-back, with barely room to take a breather?
Having hit a few of the current tour dates myself already, I’ve encountered people from all over the country doing these exact things. Setting up tents, sitting in the Indiana heat, quietly waiting hours alone on a Norfolk sidewalk, they do this just to have a chance to get up close to the Greatest Metal Circus on Earth. But again, what inspires the devotion?
I also search for these answers within myself because I struggle to think of another band whose lightning bolts have hit me as hard as Avatar’s did. Is there something wrong with us—does it really smell like a freakshow in here—or is there something else happening worth exploring?
To begin answering these questions, it’s important to first look at the music. Avatar does have some haters, and that’s fine; it seems largely motivated by a discomfort with the band’s tendency to stray into multiple genres and an inability to get past the clown makeup. You can’t please everyone. On the flip side, admirers now and then note similarities to one band close to my heart, one also known for a flamboyant front man and occasional genre-bending: Judas Priest.
Am I venturing into risky territory here? I don’t care. My argument is that Avatar is a (still young) metal band helping carry the torch of Judas Priest’s legacy deeper into the 21st century. I think it’s an argument that makes sense given Judas Priest’s influence and longevity in the metal world and Avatar’s musical skill and devotion to its craft.
I’ll own up to being biased because a) I’m a huge Judas Priest fan as well as a huge Avatar fan b) I know Judas Priest fans exist within Avatar, and c) I’m weaving my visits to Avatar shows in with my visits with Judas Priest this month, as they too are on tour in the US. So, I have both bands on the brain right now. It’s a fun problem to have.
If you’re paying attention, it’s hard not to notice the influence and parallels. The native tongue, generations, and fanbases are different. The costumes, clown makeup, and circus imagery are different. But if you rip away a bit of the tent and peek inside you might see that the substance is not so different.
Seeing the bands back-to-back helps underscore their similarities—the very charismatic front man who can sing the shit out of most things, the twin guitar attack of incredibly talented (and equally charismatic) axe men, a hard and filthy sounding rhythm section, and the clear thought and effort that goes into the live shows. Avatar is known for having new stage clothes and sets for each album “era” and their live shows rule. The body of work, like Priest’s, is metal but also borrows from other genres, like rock and funk, and is catchy as hell with anthemic choruses, dirty grooves, and interesting and thoughtful lyrics. Both have songs you can dance to.
To be clear, I am not saying that Avatar is ripping off legacy metal bands, merely that the influence is there. But, like bands such as Judas Priest, Avatar’s body of work is well crafted, interesting, and worthy of consideration as part of a next generation of great metal. They’ve taken what has come before them and added their own fabulous stamp.
Here’s an example. While it hasn’t been in the setlist outside of few shows in Australia last summer, “On the Beach” is, for my money, about as perfect a song as one could hope for, even though it was either ignored or dismissed by many initial reviewers. Having listened to it a million times, I hear, not just metal, but dirty bass grooves that would make Nile Rodgers proud alongside some Dick Dale-style surf guitar (on the beach, indeed).
The lyrics to “On the Beach” are based on an apocalyptic novel from 1957 of the same name about a group of poor slobs in Australia waiting for the arrival of deadly radiation hurling towards them from the Northern Hemisphere, years after a nuclear war. Unable to do anything about it, each person must deal with impending death on their own terms. As a side note, it also reminds me of the end of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which makes my nerd heart throb, and is of course symbolic of the state of the world in 2024. It’s a great song. I could spend days picking apart Avatar tracks, but I hope my point begins to be illustrated here—Avatar has the musical and creative chops to stand among other metal greats.
But Avatar differentiates itself from other bands in a few ways, particularly in the live setting. One is the explosive charisma and clear command of the audience as demonstrated by each of the men in their own unique ways. The guys each have their own moment in the spotlight—whether it’s a bass solo center stage, a romp with the stage gimp, or a guitar battle. It’s not just a tall dude in clown makeup backed by four nondescript musicians in matching outfits. They’re each a character in their own right, and a very silly bunch (Avatar’s Instagram is often hilarious). They’re famous for their hugely entertaining live shows—no one walks away unmoved by an Avatar gig. As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love photographing Avatar.
The other thing that differentiates Avatar is simply the vibe the band and, by extension, their fans, project at the shows and elsewhere. I’ve attended my share of concerts in my lifetime, and they don’t always feel inclusive or even all that safe, especially as a woman attending solo.
Eckerström makes a big deal out of talking about consent and taking care of each other. It’s a speech woven into the live performances, and it matters. It was something I noted the very first time I saw Avatar (and covered them for The Vinyl District) in 2019. The result is that they’ve attracted a fanbase that includes everyone and who looks at each other as their Avatar family.
In Indianapolis the crowd included middle aged women following the band around on tour alone alongside the usual college kids and young professional metalhead types. In Norfolk, I spoke to a man there with his little grandkids—they were seeing Avatar with for the first time and very excited about it. The crowd Saturday night was fully present, moshing and staying to the end. Dancing went on even after the guys left the stage at midnight. I dragged paper streamers behind me on the short walk back to my hotel, acquired after drummer Alfredsson shot them into the crowd.
Furthermore, Avatar refuses to sell VIP packages. In their minds, everyone is a VIP. Want to meet the band? Go hang out by the tour bus after the show. While nothing is guaranteed, you’re likely to get something signed and might get a selfie or five. I’ve only done this a couple of times myself over the years. My crippling shyness does not allow me to do much more than stand back and observe the scene; however, it’s nice to see other fans hang out with each other and interact with the band for a moment or two. It makes everyone outrageously happy and evens the field—it’s the Swedish principle of equality playing out every night. Finally, the shows are affordable—I checked the face value on my NorVa ticket, and it was TWENTY-NINE DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS.
My whole conclusion is this: I’d describe Avatar as a next generation, great metal band carrying on the tradition of OG metal giants like Judas Priest. The musical skill is top notch, the band is not afraid to experiment, and intelligence is baked into the lyrics. The fans are a friendly crowd who are stoked to meet others, and the band works to make sure all are made to feel welcome and included under the circus tent. The music destroys and the live performances are among the best in any genre. It never gets old. You’re missing out if you don’t show up. We can’t wait to see what comes next for Avatar.
This short run of U.S. shows wraps up at Milwaukee Metal Fest on May 18. After a summer break, Avatar hits the road again as support for Ice Nine Kills and In This Moment in August. A special shoutout to the fans who allowed me to talk through some of the thoughts presented here and offered their own opinions.
CONQUER DIVIDE
OXYMORRONS
AVATAR SETLIST
Dance Devil Dance
The Eagle Has Landed
Valley of Disease
Chimp Mosh Pit
Paint Me Red
Bloody Angel
Make it Rain
Puppet Show
When the Snow Lies Red
Do You Feel in Control?
Black Waltz
Tower
Colossus
Let it Burn
A Statue of the King
The Dirt I’m Buried In
Smells Like a Freakshow
Hail the Apocalypse
