Label: Nuclear Blast
Review by Tony Cannella
Avatarium is the new project of Leif Edling from Candlemass. In 2013 they released their self-titled debut which – as it turns out – garnered some critical acclaim. Leif Edling is a talented dude and Avatarium is not a clone of his previous bands the aforementioned Candlemass and KRUX. The addition of female singer Jennie-Ann Smith is enough to set them apart right there, but while Avatarium does maintain some aspects of his previous bands it does allow for some experimentation and taking the music down different paths which is just what the band does. What Jennie-Ann Smith brings to the vocals cannot be understated. She provides a passionate, raspy, classic rock feel to the songs which is impressive and compliments the music perfectly.
With their new EP, “All I Want”, Avatarium delivers two new songs and three live tracks which were recorded at the Roadburn festival in Tilburg, Netherlands in 2013 which incidentally was the bands second ever show. The EP begins with two brand-new songs: “All I Want” and “Deep Well”. “Tides of Telepathy” is 8-minutes long and has a kind of trance-like hypnotic vibe throughout much of the song. The blues doom of “Bird of Prey” brings the EP to a close after 5- songs and over 30-minutes.
There is definitely more than meets the eye with Avatarium. “All I Want” is just a small sampling but effective nonetheless. For those who haven’t yet heard their debut, hopefully this will serve as a great introduction and for those who do have their debut, than this is definitely worth owning. Actually either way “All I Want” is worth owning.
Rating – 80/100
Tracklist
- All I Want
- Deep Well
- Pandora’s Egg (live)
- Tides of Telepathy (live)
- Bird of Prey (live)
Line Up
- Jennie-Ann Smith – Vocals
- Marcus Jidell – Guitar
- Carl Westholm – Keyboards
- Leif Edling – Bass
- Lasse Sköld – Drums