Live Review: Avatar – Age of Memories

We have finally made it to week 4 of Avatar Ages. The standard had been set higher and higher each week with the band adapting to the live stream format exceptionally well. This week is the Age of Memories! The fans voted for the entire 3rd album ‘Avatar’ to be played as well as songs from the band’s first 2 albums, ‘Schlacht’ and ‘Thoughts of No Tomorrow’. A trip down memory lane for diehard Avatar fans. Here’s what I thought of the band’s show full of deep cuts!

For the first time in the Ages series Avatar had a support. Who you may ask? Avatar of course! The band opened the show with never before seen footage from the Swedish metal bands first ever show. The footage showed the band before going on stage to them playing in an intimate venue in Sweden. Sure the footage was distorted as hell but what do you expect from a band that were nobodies back in 2003. Seeing the crowd losing their minds to the avatar sound all that time ago must have been a sign that Avatar was destined for greatness. I can’t think of a better way to start the Age of Memories than this.

The main show opened with Johannes laying on his sofa welcoming the fans to the final week of Ages. He reminisced about waking up countless times in the rehearsal room and how they used to rehearse so intensely they ended up in their underwear. Avatar opened with ‘Schlacht’. The last known performance of this song was back in 2008! The stage had been redecorated to look like a rehearsal room and the band absolutely crushed this song.

Up next was ‘My Shining Star’, not getting a performance since 2010, the virtual crowd seemed very excited about this one. Seeing the band dressed so casually was so surreal. It’s clear to see how far the band have come over the years. The band must have spent countless hours rehearsing these songs because on the night they sounded top-notch. Hearing Johannes hitting the insanely high screams from the first album was something to behold.

Before the next song, Johannes wished former member Sam well and said he had a small case of ‘Quitting the fucking band’ before playing the song he wrote titled ‘Stranger’. Another song that had not been played since 2008, safe to say we got the deepest cuts on the night. The power the band had been putting into every song was incredible. It looked as though they were enjoying playing these songs that never seem to get the light of day anymore. The virtual crowd was eating up all the nostalgia and somewhere expressing their excitement on hearing these songs for the first time.

Assaulting fans for the first time, ‘Die With Me’’ took the show to the next level! An absolute masterclass of a performance from the band made this song sound better on the night than it does on the record. A great display of how far the band have come musically.

Following that we were greeted to ‘All Hail The Queen’ for the first time since 2010’. The band haven’t aged at all and the high paced song was blistering to hear. The incredibly rapid blasts from DRUMMER were spot on and the ruthless riffs comes thick and fast. The Virtual pit was well and truly open with fans moshing thousands of miles apart to these classic Avatar songs.

‘War Song’ continued the breakneck pace of the show and the crowd where all for it. Avatar seems very much like a band on a nostalgic trip and it helps bring these songs back to life live. The expressions on each member’s face showed just how much they were enjoying the moment. All the hours of hard work were paying off!

The lights went to black before a touching montage of the band’s journeys played on the stream. Seeing what Avatar came from was a really cool experience and it’s incredible just how far they have come. Even if they still use the Circus light.

Speaking of the circus light, each letter of it sit up one by one before revealing the band out of the ‘Rehearsal room’ and onto the stage. The Image of the Album cover ‘Avatar’ recreated live! ‘Queen of Blades’ opened up the second part of the show. Seeing the band perform these songs with the same energy and admiration as the previous weeks was simply astonishing. Less focus on flashy stage and lighting tricks helped to create the vintage feeling the band seemed to be going for. For lovers of old school gigs, this is as close as you’d get to one nowadays.

‘The Great Pretender’ was a fan favourite on the night and with good reason. Johannes had really found his own during this song and the eccentric stage antics were back for good. The solos sounded like bliss itself. A truly remarkable performance of a song they haven’t played since 2010! I hope this one gets some more love on the bands next tour!

Johannes spoke to the crowd to thank them for voting for them to play every song of the third album for all the ‘Memories’ they had while rehearsing them. He also stated his infamous gas canister was older than Tim had been in the band. ‘Shattered Wings’ was next in line from the album ‘Avatar’. A very unusual song for what we have come to expect from the band. A great example of how the band’s sound has adapted over time and a great piece of evidence that Avatar can kill any type of song they are given!

Screams and ominous jingles led us into the heavy as hell ‘Reload’. Johannes’ Screeches were ear piercing. ‘Reload’ has always been one of those songs you couldn’t help to headbang to and this performance was no exception. The virtual crowd sang this one with all their heart. Clearly, one most people were excited to hear again.

The solo intro to ‘Out of Our Minds’ will always be a thing of beauty and Tim and Jonas absolutely nailed it. The song itself is an interesting blend of heavy riffs and melodic guitars accompanied by core shaking screams and tear-jerking cleans. On the night the song sounded tight and clean with the virtual crowd bellowing the chorus every time it was sung.

Johannes stated ‘If fans provided photo evidence of them giving the song the respect it deserved’ they may bring it on the road with them on the next tour. ‘Deeper Down’ was one of the most voted songs from all the Ages shows. Johannes joked saying ‘I can’t believe you’re making me sing this’ before hitting arguably the highest screech he has ever recorded on any Avatar song. The virtual crowd absolutely adored this one. at points, it was moving so fast it was illegible! Fingers crossed for this one to be played in a venue near you soon!

The sweet opening harmonies of ‘Revolution of Two’ really allow you to be caught off guard by the sheer intensity of the song. It had been made clear at this point that Avatar was not here to do these older songs half-heartedly. Each song had sounded as if it could easily be in a modern Avatar set with no questions asked. Johannes couldn’t hold back his smile throughout this song. An awesome thing to see as a fan of the band.

The melancholy feeling created by ‘Revolution of Two’ is quickly turned into sheer aggression when ‘Roadkill’ ambushes you. You can’t beat a bit of synchronised windmilling (with your hair… Jesus). The entire band seemed to be feeling this one more than any other song on the night and it made for a performance of the Ages. Tim and Jonas have really become a force to be reckoned with within the world of metal. Their solos just feel so much larger than life.

Johannes shouted ‘Fuck you for making me sing that’ before laughing and explaining that the album was such a pivotal moment in their life that ‘Pulled them into adulthood’ before thanking the fans once again for tuning in each week. ‘Its time to oink mother fucker, your TV’S still standing?’ was the line before the brutal ‘Pigfucker’ The virtual circle pit was going at breakneck speed! The fast strobe lighting made the performance feel like an old school deathcore show. The song certainly isn’t subtle in the way it grabs you by the head and throws you into the abyss. An absolute brute of a song!

The final song from the self-titled album is ‘Lullaby (Death All Over)’. A much more relaxed venture compared to the penultimate song but it holds its ground firmly. Johannes’ vocals sounded out of this world during this one. He must have something magical inside that gasoline canister as he only gets better with time. John had the job of keeping pace with the younger version of himself on these songs with some of the drumming being incredibly fast. He managed to pull it off with a truly impressive performance throughout the night. Tim and Jonas linked magnificently one last time, creating harmonies so beautiful you could send a baby off to sleep with them.

The show ended with Johannes playing the outro of ‘Lullaby (Death All Over)’ on the piano before the band took over. The camera followed Johannes walking offset in a celebratory fashion before cutting back to the band who were playing their hearts out. A memorable end to what has been an outstanding series of live-streamed gigs.

A message to the fans read as followed. “Thank you, Friends. Stay safe. Stay Healthy. Be good to yourselves. Take care of each other. Remember this promise, Avatar shall return. We will create more memories, more madness, more illusions and more dreams. You and us. Together. This too shall pass. Until we meet again.”

Overall, the show was once again out of this world. Avatar proved that even without the stage theatrics and crazy light shows that they still can put on one of the best live shows in metal. An unreal show of dedication to their fans and their craft allowed the Age of Memories to stand in a spotlight of its own. The past 4 weeks have been nothing short of amazing and for that, all I can say is Thank you Avatar!