On the final of five consecutive UK dates, Avatar brought their entire circus for their "IN THE AIRWAVES" Tour to the O2 Academy in Bristol. A full mixed genre night that included performances from Norwegian Black Metal band Witch Club Satan and New Zealand's Power/Thrash outfit Alien Weaponry.
First onto the stage, a trio of witches from Norway, Witch Club Satan are part performative theatre but 100% Black Metal. Emerging in procession onto a stage enveloped in red light and sporting some very 'interesting' knitwear (strategically placed plasters required), the ritual of the evening began, each member holding a smouldering remnants of some form of incense/herb as they gave up an offering to the front row.
Once the introductory piece of "Witchcraft Techno" was over, it was onto the music proper ..."nothing will ever make me clean again"... as the band broke into, surprisingly catchy for black metal, "Fresh Blood, Fresh Pussy" from their self titled album (Witch Club Satan, 2024), where virtually all of tonight's brief set would be drawn from.
WITCH CLUB SATAN
All three members of the band share the vocal duties in equal measure. Johanna Holt Kleive on drums is an image of stoicism, bassist Victoria F. S. Røising is a prowling menace, often attacking her instrument with a violin bow; but guitarist Nikoline Spjelkavik is the personification of Black Metal itself, appearing to be totally enveloped by the performance the trio are putting forward, almost as if she has been transported from our mere mortal plane, to something much deeper, much more satanic.
Following "Salvation" and "Mother Sea," the band once again procession off of the stage, only to return now a reflection of Samara Morgan (the girl from The Ring), now stained with blood and with long black hair flowing over their shoulders, covering modesty as they appear to be nude on stage as we are treated to "I Was Made By Fire" and "Black Metal Is Krig".
Beyond the initial theatrical façade and 'feminist paganism,' there is a genuine connection with the audience, calls for "no mercy for Netanyahu, no mercy for Epstein and his friends," calls for "war against war" and genuine thanks for "keeping your minds open to three Black Metal witches from Norway".
Finishing their set off with the 2023 single "Solace Sisters"; overall the sound is harsh, its raspy, its the devil personified, a mixture of shrieks and wails combined with almost ethereal spoken word pieces; the visuals of both lighting and the overall stage presence; these girls manage to achieve a lot within the limitations of being an opening act. Witch Club Satan would, I feel to most, be an acquired taste, but the spectacle that is their performance is one you should definitely try for yourselves if you get the chance (think Heilung but make it Black Metal).
A shift in style and a huge shot of energy comes in the form of Power/Thrash three-piece, from Aotearoa (the Māori name for New Zealand), Alien Weaponry. The tone was set from the very start, drummer Henry De Jong roaring his way onto the stage before taking up residence behind his drum kit and instigating a Māori Haka to start the show off; as the war dance intensified he was joined by bassist Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds; eventually, the younger of the De Jong brothers, Lewis, burst out onto the stage to lead the chanting start of "Rū Ana Te Whenua" (Tū, 2018), a song that builds throughout, builds in 'chuggyness', builds in speed and builds in aggression.
ALIEN WEAPONRY
The whole set is bursting with energy and with passion, they perform their songs predominantly in Te Reo Māori as opposed to English, their lyrics touching on cultural preservation, the struggles of the indigenous communities, particularly the effects of colonisation on the Māori people and other social/climate issues. I strongly recommend that you take the time to dive into some of their music videos that provide a lot of background and context to the lyrics within their music.
The bands third studio album was released last year, and this very swift five-song, 30-minute set would pull three tracks from here; "Te Riri o Tāwhirimātea", "Mau Moko" [a song that details Toi Moko, the preserved heads of Māori that during the 1800's were taken and traded around the world as trophies and that today Māori families are still battling to have their ancestors returned to them to where they belong], and "Taniwha".
Following a quick impromptu sing along of "Happy Birthday" for Harry, one of Avatar's crew; the set finishes off with the song that has probably given them the most outreach, from their debut album, 2018's Tū, a song about the great northern war chief Hongi Hika, who after a visit to England returned to Aotearoa with muskets "Kai Tangata" (the title referring to the a cannibalistic war time custom, a ritual that was used to attack the 'mana' of your opponent).
This song features an absolutely savage breakdown, one that see's a split in the room and a subsequent wall of death at a magnitude befitting the levels of ferocity that the song deserves. For all of the intensity on stage, these guys seem to have some of the most genuinely warm and wonderful personalities in metal music, each of their individual social media channels is worth a follow.
As both Witch Club Satan and Alien Weaponry were only with us for such a short amount of time (only 30 minutes each), that could only mean that we were in for an absolutely bumper set from our headliners tonight, Avatar. With the recent release of their tenth studio album (Don't Go in the Forest, 2025), the band have a lot of material to pull from; we would be in for a treat tonight with a setlist that would stretch for nearly 2 hours.
The stage was practically ultra-violet with the blue and purple lights that penetrated through the fog, the sounds of a thunderstorm and crashing waves all around; everyone's favourite clown and the ring-master of this particular circus, Johannes Eckerström, hooded and cloaked and carrying a lantern, slowly led the rest of the band out and into the sea-shanty-esque start of "Captain Goat" from the new record.
The 'relatively' sombre start was quickly thrown aside along with Eckerström's cloak and full chaotic service was resumed for "Silence in the Age of Apes" (Hunter Gatherer, 2010) and our first (of many) proper glimpse of arguably the best synchronised hair windmilling in the entire music industry; seriously how these guys can do this night after night and not require months in a neck brace is one of the most impressive things.
The opening volley of tracks finishes with "The Eagle Has Landed" (Feathers & Flesh, 2017) see's the full crowd, arms aloft, waving along in time to the chorus. We are off to a great start.
AVATAR
Following a brief pause we get another track from the new album, and title of this tour: "In The Airwaves". With Eckerström donning his red ring master jacket, the crowd knew that we would be getting "Bloody Angel" (Hail the Apocalypse, 2014) next, and was met with a big cheer.
The middle order is a jaunt from new banger to classic hit and back again, "Death and Glitz" (Don't Go in the Forest, 2025) to "Blod" (Black Waltz, 2012) to "The Dirt I'm Buried In" (Dance Devil Dance, 2023). John Alfredsson joins the rest of the band, in full almost mighty ducks flying 'V' formation out front, on a smaller drum kit that he is able to play stood up for "Colossus" (Hunter Gatherer, 2010); before "Torn Apart" (Black Waltz, 2012).
Upping the theatrics, a baby grand piano is wheeled out to the centre of the stage for the almost balad "Howling at the Waves" (Don't Go in the Forest, 2025), Eckerström wearing his "piano jacket" is initially accompanied by a drum and bass beat from both Alfredsson and Henrik Sandelin, the piano giving way to synths towards the end when guitarists Jonas "Kungen" Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström join the mix.
Baby grand piano cleared away, the next set piece is put in place by the leather masked stage hand (who we also saw at one point providing an extra cymbal for Andersson fixed atop a motorbike helmet that I'm not sure he was fully a willing participant for), a large golden throne now dominated centre stage as an old timey style radio broadcast lists the achievements of the King "....[crackle] the King wrestled two tigers whilst drinking a beer on a skateboard, inventing a new sport". Jonas "Kungen" Jarlsby sporting a crown enters the stage to great fanfare to take up his spot on the throne and the band break into "Legend of the King" (Avatar Country, 2018).
"Let It Burn" (Black Waltz, 2012) is another classic that gets maximum audience participation, with the last track of the 'main' set, "Tonight We Must Be Warriors" (Don't Go in the Forest, 2025) seeing an enormous circle pit during Öhrström's excellent solo.
The expected chants for more come from the crowd. Not wanting to leave us short-changed, the band return for the encore. A single red helium balloon mysteriously makes its way across the stage through the mist, I say mysteriously, we could all see the member of the crew who was not as concealed as he though he was frantically tugging away at the string, the band return for the title track from the new album, and most recent single, "Don't Go in the Forest".
The track finishes with chants of "AVATAR, AVATAR" as the most seriously unserious frontman in metal Eckerström gyrates up and down against his mic stand. There's some top quality banter here, as Johannes sets up for his planned bit of monologue, thanking everyone for the evening, a number of crowd surfers decide to get up and make their way to the front. "That's smart, get your crowd surfing out the way between songs, that's some time management."
The back catalogue is so vast and so packed with great songs, we knew the finish was going to be big, "You did good, we did damn good, together we are beautiful, Bristol, you and Avatar have something going on, we're all hot and sweaty up here, it doesn't matter if you look like a freak show, if you sound like a freak show, because we smell like!" the entire crowd screaming back "FREAK SHOW", "Smells Like a Freakshow" (Black Waltz, 2012) is our penultimate track.
AVATAR
The night finally comes to a close with "Hail the Apocalypse" (Hail the Apocalypse, 2014), with Andersson, in a comical act of 'confusion', letting the final drum fill last an awkwardly funny amount of time.
Eventually though, as Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" plays over the venue speakers, the night does come to a close. Avatar are phenomenal at what they do, and to be doing it consistently over ten albums, the way they curate their live shows are always a spectacle and above all they are always bloody good fun.
Avatar continue their 'IN THE AIRWAVES' Tour, with Alien Weaponry and for parts with Witch Club Satan, for others with AGABAS; across mainland Europe through into March.
