Avatar: A Different Kind of Circus

Throughout history, all of the very best bands have made changes to their sound to keep them both relevant and interesting. On new record Hunter Gatherer, AVATAR have done exactly that, opting for small tweaks to their tried-and-tested formula instead of completely ripping up the rule book. “Pushing boundaries and trying new things is extremely important to us,” states frontman and ringleader Johannes Eckerström when describing the eclectic nature of the band’s eight full-length release. “If we’re going to add our voices to the conversation, to climb that mountain and scream something to the world, we at least want to add something different. I don’t think many people say ‘what we need here is more music’. If you’re going to add quantity, you want to add some quality to it.”

This idea of quality and precision is certainly evident across the new record, from the hulking leviathan of Colossus to the charging vibrance of God of Sick Dreams, and this seems to have stemmed from a writing process that allowed Johannes in particular to delve into a more open, vulnerable side of himself that hasn’t made it onto an AVATAR record until now. “One part of the process, and a way to keep it interesting, is to peel off another layer of the onion to reach another level of honesty. Our albums have helped me personally to peel off eight layers of myself, so there’s only three million layers to go until I’m a complete, whole human being.” It’s this honesty that has perhaps paved the way for a change of tack for the band, as Hunter Gatherer bucks their recent trend by not being a fantastical, metaphor-laced concept album. “Avatar Country was a one-time thing where we said ‘fuck it, we want to make a comedy; are we funny? Well I laugh at my own jokes – let’s see how that works for the rest of the world!’”

When reflecting on these recent concept albums, the aforementioned Avatar Country and 2016’s Feathers and Flesh, there’s a clear sense that, while the band are very proud of their creations, they wanted to steer clear of becoming one-trick ponies. “A third concept album would have become a crutch, something to lean on and a hindrance to being creative,” states Johannes. “There was, though, still a vision for what this album was supposed to be. Very early on I started to imagine a painting, right in front of me; I knew it was there, but it was out of focus. It was all about adjusting the lens with each song and each idea, and with every bit of the song we got right the image became slightly sharper.”

As far as departures go, Gun is a pretty major one for the band; a beautiful, piano-led ballad taking the place of the more standard metallic fare that fans will have been used to over the past decade. While it’s a wonderfully creative departure from the band’s norm, according to Johannes it wasn’t an easy process to craft something so different. “We had continuously failed to finish that song. For a long time, many different versions had distorted guitar chords showing up somewhere in the middle like fucking Bed of Roses, or something. We were like ‘no – throw it away, let’s try next year.’ We reached a point where we realised we had to be honest with what we were doing, that this song was about losing, loss, vulnerability. I had to confront a feeling that I was just being weak, resignated, giving up, and that shit sucks. Then came the feeling of ‘maybe the problem is that I suck’. It was important to confront that and not fall into some form of self-pity over it. Let the song be what it is – it doesn’t have to be that long, it can even just be an interlude because that is the magical part of it. Accept it and embrace that. We wanted to record the song for the longest time but we just weren’t ready for it, until we were.”

While the songs themselves have the fun-loving vibe that we’ve all become used to from AVATAR, there’s a real darkness to the lyrics that showcase just how different this album is to its predecessors. “When All But Force Has Failed is about how seagulls starve to death because their stomachs are full of plastic. That’s one of the most upsetting things I’ve ever seen, and the most clear example of how fucked things are. It makes me want to point some fucking fingers, but it’s also the most honest I’ve been about my own shortcomings”.

This heavier, more atmospheric tone of Hunter Gatherer, combined with the state of the world in 2020, would naturally have an effect on most lyricists, but Johannes doesn’t see if influencing the future of the band in a drastic way. “Me and my wife were joking that next year we’ll have a lot of metal lyrics about feeling claustrophobic, trapped or sick. If you want to make money from it you should be working on a celebratory song about finally being released – that’s what people will want to hear! Whatever happens to me personally will of course influence how I write, but I also feel that I’m genuinely not interested in doing an album exclusively about this experience. Certain things have happened that are more interesting spin-off stories; what happens to a marriage for example when a husband, wife and dog are the only ones spending time together for four months?”.

It’s hard to predict the answer to this question, which feels like a rather apt comparison for the career of AVATAR to date. There’s no telling where the future may take this Swedish contingent, but one thing’s for sure – it will be one hell of a ride to be a part of.

Hunter Gatherer is out now via Century Media Records.

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