AVATARIUM
An Evening With Avatarium
NUCLEAR BLAST Sweden’s dramatic doom quintet show their class live in Stockholm
Even Iron Maiden waited five albums before releasing a double live set, but in a year when we’ve been starved of live gigs, this classy doom quintet can be forgiven for jumping the gun a bit. Crucially, Avatarium’s elegant, emotional music has tangibly different qualities in the live environment, gathering their paciest songs together and imbuing more reflective material with added edge, grit and sweat. Occasionally Rickard Nilsson’s honking organ seems a little too dominant, but there’s no denying the satisfying weight of Marcus Jidell’s guitars, while Jennie-Ann Smith deploys her stellar vocal range with more playful confidence, spontaneity and directness, confirming her as one of the greatest vocalists in the metal world right now. ■■■■■■■■■■