Album Review: Avatarium - "All I Need"
Here's a question... what if, instead of Ian Gillan, Black Sabbath had replaced Ronnie James Dio with a female singer? And not just any female singer. A female singer with power and soul who really knew how to belt out a lyric.
I think we have our found our answer in the form of the band Avatarium.
Avatarium is from the country that never seems to be short on new and interesting metal acts, Sweden. Hailing from Stockholm, they bring with them a sound that's part metal, part blues and a whole lot of intensity from vocalist Jennie-Ann Smith.
In addition to Smith, the rest of the band consists of bassist Leif Edling (formerly of Candlemass), guitarist Marcus Jidell (formerly of Evergrey), keyboard player Carl Westholm and Lasse Skold on drums.
Edling and Jidell started Avatarium back in 2012 and have released one full length album so far. The band has been described as a "gloomy metal outfit" and while gloom is definitely part of the act, the thing that stands out the most is the lyrical soul of Smith.
Their stated influences are the aforementioned Sabbath as well as Jethro Tull, Blue Oyster Cult and Rainbow and their sound is clearly based in those early metal acts.
Their latest release is the EP "All I Want" which consists of two new songs and three previously released songs from a live performance at the Roadburn Festival in Tilburg, Netherlands in 2013.
About the new songs, guitarist Marcus Jidell explains, “We tried to keep things simple and spontaneous during the recordings, something I hope people will be able to hear. Also I think that Jennie-Ann Smith has reached new levels with the way she sings on both of the new songs!”
The EP starts off with the mid-tempo "All I Want" with it's crunchy riff, subtle keyboards and the inspiring vocals of Jennie-Ann Smith. Joining the band on this track is "psychedelic percussionist" Michael Blair who has worked with greats like Tom Waits and Lou Reed.
According to Jidell, Blair “... showed up at the studio with a big "bag of tricks" with metals, crashers, shakers and a lot of strange things which he made sound like if you throw in a punkrocker at Woodstock and feed him with psychedelic pills!”
Blair definitely adds another layer of cool to what is already a good song making it just that much better.
The other new song on the EP is the haunting, slow "Deep Well". The juxtaposition of Smith's beautiful vocals with the Deep Purple/ Sabbath sound of the music is remarkable.
The other three songs, "Pandora’s Egg", "Tides Of Telepathy" and "Bird Of Prey" are live versions of songs found on their debut album although they're so well done, the only reason you know the songs are live is by the applause at the end of each track.
While we're starting to hear more and more female fronted metal bands lately, Jennie-Ann Smith has one of the best, if not the best, voices in metal today. I don't mean for my focus on Smith to take anything away from the other musicians in Avatarium. The music is very well done and, together, Avatarium have the power to make a big splash in the world of rock. If you haven't heard them before, "All I Want" is a great way to acquaint yourself with the band and I think you'll be as impressed as I am.
