Avatarium
The Girl With The Raven Mask

The doom environment is one of the most complex and layered in the metallic world: a "niche" subgenre compared to others, rarely under the spotlight, often self-referential and, above all, repetitive. In a landscape now grayed by a chronic inability to lift the slowest soul of metal, Avatarium has been a pleasant yet solitary exception. Formed a few years ago by former members of Candlemass, Tiamat, Krux, and Evergrey, they feature Jennie Ann Smith on vocals, who not only looks great (guitarist Marcus Jidell was spot on), but also knows her stuff in terms of theatricality and vocal timbre. Thus, Smith's ethereal voice has allowed Avatarium to shape a sound that embraces the lessons of classic doom in the style of Candlemass, alongside a refined taste for melody and flowing acoustic sounds. A gothic/doom ensemble that worked great on their 2013 debut and is now repeated here more or less to the letter.

Alternation. Good songwriting is that which manages to change the "shape" of a song without becoming overcomplicated. Avatarium does nothing but build medium-length tracks alternating doom passages with the dustiness of a sort of "gothic psychedelia." The opener is a classic "catchy" doom piece that does its job without exaggerating (same goes for "Run Killer Run"), while "The January Sea" is already an example of the coexistence of these two souls in the Swedes' musical vision. A doom-gothic that thrives on melancholic echoes thanks to Smith's performance. In this sense, while it's true that the album follows the sound architecture of its predecessor, it should also be noted that it further closes in on softer and less metallic sections. "Pearls And Coffins" indulges in almost country influences, while "Hypnotized" and "The Master Thief" focus more on darkness.

Monothematicity and repetitiveness are two peculiar and at the same time "limiting" aspects of a fascinating genre like doom: Avatarium has not yet shown the strength to overturn or at least distance themselves from those elements, and the second album, "The Girl With The Raven Mask," is a successful work but does not shift the Swedish band's stylistic coordinates. We are simply witnessing the natural continuation of the first. Avatarium leans on a form they have now well established and set aside variety. The album suffers from the aforementioned repetitiveness, a problem that plagued the self-titled predecessor as well, but there is still plenty of quality and, above all, no noteworthy declines. A "classic doom" with its own lyricism and an instrumental part as "minimal" as it is clean and constantly seeking melody. In the midst of a genre in rapid decay, Avatarium remains one of the few certainties.

Three and a half stars.

1. "Girl With The Raven Mask" (4:12)
2. "The January Sea" (7:56)
3. "Pearls And Coffins" (7:05)
4. "Hypnotized" (6:26)
5. "Ghostlight" (6:38)
6. "Run Killer Run" (5:19)
7. "Iron Mule" (5:51)
8. "The Master Thief" (6:37)