Avatar is an odd duck, to say the least. Are they pirates? Carnies? Vampires? Knights? Burlesque dancers? Do they play power metal, folk metal, death metal, gothic metal? They stand at the confluence of all these streams, and if the whole smorgasbord works, it is because of the quality of the music and the band’s absolute commitment to the concept. The ethos is simple: never do anything halfway. The pyro, the costumes, the humor and the metal are all over the top, designed to overwhelm the senses and blow your mind.
This Paris gig was their largest headlining European show to date, and to mark the occasion they were filming it for a future release. Technical problems after the second song interrupted the show for fifteen minutes, but when they returned it was as if they had not missed a beat. The crowd was all in from the start, singing along, moshing, crowd surfing, some fans even decked out in full Avatar makeup and regalia.
The setlist was, of course, centered around their excellent new album Don't Go In The Forest, released last October. Catchy, heavy and dramatic, the new songs were received with just as much fervor as the older ones that have become staples of the band’s repertoire, making it difficult to single out a highlight. The show unfolded like a well paced film, taking the audience through shifting moods and textures, from full on metal aggression to tongue in cheek theatrics, absurd humor and even moments of tenderness.
With this album and tour cycle, Avatar have earned their place among metal’s headliners. They are part of the next generation, the bands that will carry the torch once the old heavyweights step aside, a moment that may be approaching faster than anyone would like to admit. Quite simply, they have become part of the future of the genre.
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