Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
We are forever caught in a titanic tussle between the forces of evil, that of the morally right, and the judgement of our ancestors, it is almost as these other worldly entities have us trapped in a see-through prism, a triangular attack which places us in danger, the feeling of mortality disturbingly close, too close for comfort.
It is how we hold ourselves in resilience that sees us through the darkness, how we view the relationship with religion, with faith, and the peer pressure of tradition from those who walked with our D.N.A. before us. It is in the recognition and insistence that the Doom is be treated as a glorious friend and the dynamic of Rock will strengthen the flexibility of the mind and heart as it deals with the adversity supplied by others.
As Swedish maestros Avatarium unleash their new album Between You, God, The Devil And The Dead the knowledge that it has been a long labour of love, but one that surely enhances the superb songwriting and musical arrangement that has come to be rightly admired, and as tracks such as My Hair Is On Fire (But I’ll Take Your Hand), Lovers Give A Kingdom To Each Other, Until Forever And Again, I See You Better In The Dark, and the album title track of Between You, God, The Devil And The Dead, Marcus Jidell’s guitars, Mats Rydström on bass, Andreas Habo Johansson on drums and percussion once more play the devil’s ace of bold cool to the sensational vocals of Jennie-Ann Smith.
Despite the 18 months it has taken to record this their sixth album, the sense of haunting drive and up-tempo presentation is one of collective assurance, the pressure perhaps placed upon them that would fiercely derail any other band of the same calibre. However, critically instead it has arguably bought the band and their outlook closer, more aligned with the domination the genre enjoys in northern Europe, and between you and all that lays in between a soul embracing experience, is just a conversation with the living and the ferociously inspired.
Between You, God, The Devil And The Dead flexes its muscles and moves with passion and crucially an abundance of spirit; an album of assurance.
Avatarium release Between You, God, The Devil And The Dead on January 24th via AFM Records.
Ian D. Hall