Album review : AVATARIUM – Between You, God, The Devil and The Dead

AFM Records [Release date : 24.01.25]

If anyone is going to have the inside information on the darkside of metal, it’s a psychosocial counsellor.

And if anyone’s able to bring the genre’s competing emotions to life, it’s Avatarium’s vocalist / songwriter, Jennie-Ann Smith, a psychosocial counsellor in one of Stockholm’s major hospitals.

Recruited by her husband, Marcus (Evergrey/Candlemass) Jidell, she’s joined by bassist, Matt Rydstrom and drummer, Lars Skold.

It’s been well documented that Avatarium have criss-crossed a few genre lines so far in their relatively short recording career. Slip sliding between Doom and Classic rock, and all points in between, over their previous 3 albums.

The unremittingly stark soundscapes on this new recording are neither one or the other. The one constant is the desire to create a chilling sense of menace and unease.

Jidell’s darkly lit guitar distortions, with JA Smith’s piercing vocals cutting through the gloom is a pattern oft repeated, to great effect. Sometimes illuminating the way ahead, (Lovers Give A Kingdom To Each Other), at others surrendering to the void (Notes From Underground).

On opener ‘Long Black Waves’, in a genre where everything is never less than theatrical, Jidell’s fiercely overdriven guitar joins hands with Smith’s bluesy wail, complementing the painfully emotional narrative, giving the song a truly distinctive sound.

Second teaser trailer was ‘I See You Better In The Dark’. Probably
the album’s most accessible track. And the most distinct. Combining a heavy, Sabbath like soundscape with a catchy chorus dredged up from the Our Lady Peace playbook.

Further on, the songs mix pithy social commentary (‘Being With The Dead’) with more personal stuff, (‘My Hair Is On Fire’), each in a more descriptive style.

Heavy with emotion, the epic title track, ‘Between You, God, The Devil And Dead’, sketched around a classy piano riff, resists beefing up the guitars, allowing Smith’s perceptive lyrics to carry the weight. Works a treat. ****

Review by Brian McGowan

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