Avatar brings their heavy metal circus on the road once again, with a selection of exemplary death metal bands as support.
Self-proclaimed “death western” metal band SpiritWorld started off the show, and instantly brought down the house. Before the end of the first song, “Relic of Damnation,” the crowd was already going wild in the packed pit. The members’ clothing and overall look made up the western elements, but the music felt like just a solid, pure death metal.
This set might have been one of the loudest that I’ve experienced live, and I could feel the walls of the venue shaking during the breakdowns especially. On any other night, I think they could have easily headlined with how into the set the crowd was.
Alien Weaponry, hailing from New Zealand, brought their Maori culture to the masses with a short, but heavy, set. Opening with a traditional Haka, the trio made up of brothers Lewis Raharuhi de Jong, Henry Te Reiwhati de Jong, and Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds lit up the Sylvee with their heavy riffs and choruses in the te reo Māori language.
The young group has already seen massive success, with world tours and festivals, and mentioned how thrilled they were to collaborate with Randy Blythe of Lamb of God for the track “Taniwha,” which had to make its way into the set. The epic “Kai Tangata” closed out the set, giving the crowd more than enough time to start to get rowdy in the pit before the final act of the evening.
Hot off the release of their tenth studio album “Don’t Go In the Forest,” Avatar brings yet another solid mash-up of melodic death metal and the experimental sounds that the fans have come to love. The slow introduction led up to the sea shanty-esque “Captain Goat,” with the band bathed in blue light, and vocalist Johannes Eckerström standing cloaked and still, like a Dread Pirate Roberts from “The Princess Bride.”
This didn’t last long, as the set took a heavy turn and the true mosh-ready metal started with “Silence in the Age of Apes.” The crowd didn’t let up for any of the heavy tracks from here on out for the rest of the night. The crowd’s voices didn’t get a break either, from screaming along to “Blod,” or singing along to the clean vocal choruses of tracks like “The Eagle Has Landed.” One of the latest singles from the newest album, “In the Airwaves,” was an essential to this tour, and the fast-paced track saw waves of crowd surfers and a nonstop pit.
The set was an absolute blast from start to finish, with enough variety, visually and musically, to keep the show exciting and entertaining. There’s a reason that Avatar has gotten the reputation for creative metal tracks and exemplary showmanship, and a tour like this shows it off perfectly.
You can find the rest of the their US tour dates below:
