Hail The Apocalypse – Avatar (Album Review)

Hail the Apocalypse is the fifth studio album by Swedish metal group AVATAR. The album was released May 13th via eOne Music. Of the album, frontman Johannes Ekerström said, “this batch has been brewing for quite some time now, and we’re really excited about finally unleashing the apocalypse upon you all. We are opening the floodgates and damage will be done.” Terrifying? Slightly. Badass? Absolutely. 

The sound of the album is something that I had never heard before, it has a very unique sound from other metal bands I’ve listened to in the past. Most fans have dubbed them modern metal/melodic death metal, but honestly they’re so much more than that, and that shines through in this album. I’m not exactly sure what I would call it, can we just make ‘hella awesome’ a genre or something? Though not everyone shares my sentiments, I’m sure I’ve scarred many a co-worker and a puppy (sorry Newt) with the frequency I listened to the album. Oops.

Also you’d think a mixture of circus side show and pirates wouldn’t go together, but AVATAR makes it work, and they own it! Not many other bands would be able to pull of a theme such as  that and still be looked at as badasses.

The entire album is fantastic and I can’t just pick one or two tracks to praise, again because this is a style I’ve never really heard, or looked for before so it’s all new and I’m still in awe.

Fans are either loving it or hating it. Many like the diversity and sound it brings to the table, others are claiming AVATAR has lost their edge and they went soft with this album. You can’t make everybody happy! I highly suggest giving these guys a listen. It’ll take a little hunting to find a stream on youtube, but it’s not impossible!

Rating: 4.5/5- I couldn’t get enough of this album. It’s a style I’ve never heard before and I was very impressed with the diversity of the songs on the album. Granted they’re probably not a band I would have gone to look and listen to by choice, but I’m glad I was able to have the chance to give them a listen. Maybe it’s because I have a soft spot for Swedish people (two of the only YouTube gamers I watch are Robbaz and PewDiePie, it just ended up that way), or because I love unique things, but this album is quickly becoming a new favorite of mine! 

Be sure to pick up Hail the Apocalypse on iTunes, Google Play store, Best Buy, Amazon and Spotify!