Live Review: Avatar – Dance Devil Dance World Tour – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London

A cold, bitter night fell upon Camden Town while the legions of Avatar faithful pulled into Kentish Town to witness the one and only heavy metal circus. After several delays and reschedules, the time had finally come for the Swedish attraction to take centre stage once more in London Town. Here’s what went down!

Setting the mood for the evening was Mastiff, A heavy band who don’t know the meaning of the term ‘slow down’. Their set was fast-paced, aggressive and empowering with fans in attendance quickly growing accustomed to the unrelenting pace. As an opening band, you are tasked with getting the crowd warmed up and Mastiff did that with just the sheer intensity of their set. Very little talking from the band between songs meant they were able to deliver a barrage of heavy hitters that went down mostly well with the fans in attendance.

Up next was Veil Of Maya which offered a bit more diversity to its sound. Mixing heavily with melody, the band seemed to be a fan favourite from the off. Smooth transitions, crowd surfers, and guttural screaming filled the Forum with a sense of positive energy. Despite being a support, the band had a tonne of support coming their way from the crowd. Choruses were being sung echoed back to them without the need of asking and as the band closed out their set, you could visibly see the joy they had given to the Avatar country citizens!

As the lights dimmed and the suspense reached a boiling point, an unholy feeling took over the Forum. Avatar appeared on the stage and unleashed ‘Dance Devil Dance’ before heading straight into fan favourite ‘The Eagle Has Landed’. The heavy metal circus was in town and they were taking no prisoners! ‘Valley Of Disease’ and ‘Chip Mosh Pit’ went down extremely well considering how recently they were released while ‘Scream Until You Wake’ took the energy levels that next step higher.

A sinister feeling swept across the Avatar legions as ‘Bloody Angel’ brought out the more sadistic side of the band. Pledging an allegiance ‘For The Swarm’ was followed by a stellar performance of ‘Puppet Show’ where Johannes took to the balcony steps to make balloon animals and deliver his trombone solo. The set took a more aggressive approach for the next few songs with the likes of ‘Do You Feel In Control’ and ‘Black Waltz’ hitting hard! ‘Tower’ was performed on a piano for a more feel, before the band unleashed an unholy trinity of ‘Colossus’, ‘Let It Burn’, and ‘A Statue To The King’ to close out their main set.

A show isn’t complete nowadays without an encore and avatar delivered! Opening with ‘The Dirt I’m Buried In’ saw the new single receive a huge amount of love. ‘Smells Like A Freakshow’ was always going to send the room into a frenzy before the dedicated fans said goodbye as they ‘Hail The Apocalypse’ one last time.

Avatar is one of those bands who seem to just get better the more they tour. Their theatrics matched with an incredibly crisp live sound make for one of the most enjoyable shows in the scene at this point in time. Be sure to keep an eye out for their next tour!