Review | Avatarium – Between You, God, The Devil And The Dead

AFM Records

Time for a new chapter in the history of Swedish doomy rockers Avaratium. Presenting their sixth studio-album with the epic title ‘Between You, God, The Devil And The Dead’. Guitarist/producer Marcus Jidell and his wife and vocalist Jennie-Ann Smith took more time than usual to fabricate the eight songs on this record. They no longer needed the input of Candlemass boss Leif Edling who stood at the crib of Avatarium over a decade ago and coached Smith and Jidell in such a manner that after several years they were able to stand on their own feet as composers.

DEVELOPING THROUGHOUT THE YEARS

When you have been following this group from the very beginning you cannot help but notice the enormous development they made throughout the years. Starting out as a straight forward doom metal outfit, already on their first record you could hear that this outfit was a bit different. Mainly because of the angelic vocals of Jennie-Ann Smith but also their music started to feature different elements. It was a journey that you could follow via albums such as ‘The Girl With The Raven Mask’, ‘Hurricanes And Halos’, ‘The Fire I Long For’ and their 2022 record ‘Death, Where Is Your Sting’. All these albums had a common ground, yet they were all standing on their own with the band trying to avoid repeat.

OWN IDENTITY

As goes for its predecessors also ‘Between You, God, The Devil And The Dead’ has its own identity. According to Jidell a lot of the songs were composed by him using a piano and that it shows on the album. That might go for several songs, yes, but luckily for us the most important element of Avatarium has not been shoved to the background. There are still plenty of heavy riffs to be heard as the openers ,,Long Black Waves’’ and ,,I See You Better In The Dark’’ make perfectly clear.

Except maybe for ,,My Hair Is On Fire (But I’ll Take our Hand)’’ and the title-track are not guitar dominated. The rest of the material is reasonably heavy with several other elements such as psychedelic parts being part of the deal. This record deals lyrically about ‘existence’. This band does not write bubble gum lyrics or soppy love songs. There are deeper thoughts behind the lyrics and it makes Avatarium stand out.

AVATARIUM – THE CONCLUSION

As always, a record made by Avatarium is at times moody. But with Jennie-Ann’s angelic voice (I wonder if she ever tried to sing opera) the material can also have a light hearted character at times. Surprisingly enough this time there is even a complete instrumental tune to be heard. ,,Notes From Underground’’ has a great riff but what is most impressive is the very heavy section halfway through the song. As earlier stated, this band does not want to repeat itself. Although several elements and sounds sound familiar it is fair to say that Avatarium has managed to further develop themselves as composers, musicians, and artists. This record fits well into the discography. The jury is still out whether this is their best one yet, but it surely is again a strong effort.

Release date: 24 January 2025