Avatarium is a Swedish

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band from

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, founded by Candlemass member

Leif Edling Leif Edling (born 6 August 1963) is a Swedish musician, best known as the bassist, main songwriter and one of the founding members of the epic doom metal band Candlemass. He is the only constant member of the band since its inception to the pr ...

in 2013.

Biography

In the winter of 2012, Candlemass founder and bassist

started to work on a new project and wrote a few

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

. Looking for musical partners, he first reached out to his friend,

Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal/rock band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Mikael ...

frontman

Mikael Åkerfeldt Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt (; born 17 April 1974)Mikael Åkerfeldt
, Op ...

, but due to a lack of time, he declined. Therefore, Stockholm-based guitarist Marcus Jidell (Soen, ex-

Evergrey Evergrey is a Swedish progressive metal band from Gothenburg. History Evergrey was formed in 1995 in Gothenburg, Sweden as a progressive power metal band, in contrast to the melodic death metal that Gothenburg is known for. Since then, the band ...

, ex-

Royal Hunt Royal Hunt is a Danish progressive metal band. The band was founded in 1989 by keyboardist André Andersen in order to combine basic values of classic rock with progressive, current musical elements. The name originated from a painting seen in ...

) offered to help. Soon,

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( akk, or , grc, Θαλάττη, Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the sea, mating with Abzû, the god of the groundwater, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial creati ...

drummer Lars Sköld and keyboarder Carl Westholm joined the new band and the line-up was completed by Jidell's wife Jennie-Ann Smith, whose deep and bluesy voice added a new touch to Edling's typical heavy doom

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s. By September 2013, they released their first EP ''Moonhorse'' and in November, their critically acclaimed eponymous full-length debut followed through

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

. The band's first live show outside of Sweden took place at the Dutch

Roadburn Festival Roadburn Festival is an international music festival held in Tilburg, Netherlands every April since 1999. It was set up as a spin-off from the Roadburn music blog founded by Jurgen van den Brand and Walter Hoeijmakers. Originally focused on stone ...

in April 2014, and in the fall of the same year, the Swedes released the EP ''All I Want''. After a European tour and several festival appearances, the band entered the studio once more to record their second album. ''The Girl with the Raven Mask'' was released worldwide in October 2015 and was voted Album of the Month in several leading European magazines, such as ''

Rock Hard "Rock Hard" is a single by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1984. The track contains samples from the AC/DC song "Back in Black", which was used without obtaining legal permission, causing the record to be withdraw ...

'' and ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

''. It was nominated for the independent music prize Manifest in Sweden, and in September 2016, Avatarium received the "Up and Coming" award from Germany's ''Metal Hammer''. For health issues, Leif Edling quit playing live shows with the band on their headline tour through Europe, and

Anders Iwers Anders Iwers (born 6 October 1972) is a Swedish heavy metal musician and bassist of the bands Tiamat and Avatarium. He is the older brother of former In Flames bassist Peter Iwers. Iwers is a former member of the metal band Dark Tranquillity. ...

joined the band as a live member. Although Edling stepped out of the spotlight, he is still active as songwriter for the band. At the end of 2016, Avatarium entered the studio again to record their third album, ''Hurricanes and Halos'', together with their new bassist Mats Rydström and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

Rickard Nilsson. This time, singer Jennie-Ann Smith and guitarist Marcus Jidell also contributed to the songwriting. The full-length album was released on 26 May 2017 through

. Their next album, ''The Fire I Long For'', was released on 22 November 2019. As of April 2022, Avatarium is signed to

AFM Records AFM Records GmbH is a music label based in Schwalmstadt, Germany. They focus on the heavy metal musical genre, signing bands such as U.D.O., Doro, Lordi, Kotipelto, Masterplan, Nostradameus, and Annihilator. In 2005, Candlelight Records si ...

and their fifth album, ''Death Where Is Your Sting'', was released in October 2022.

Discography

*''Avatarium'' (2013) *''The Girl with the Raven Mask'' (2015) *''Hurricanes and Halos'' (2017) *''The Fire I Long For'' (2019) *''Death, Where Is Your Sting'' (2022)

Gallery

File:Avatarium Rockharz 2018 05.jpg, Bassist Mats Rydström File:Avatarium Rockharz 2018 07.jpg, Drummer Lars Sköld File:Avatarium Rockharz 2018 15.jpg, Guitarist Marcus Jidell File:Avatarium Rockharz 2018 11.jpg, Keyboarder Rickard Nilsson File:Avatarium Rockharz 2018 12.jpg, Singer Jennie-Ann Smith

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Swedish doom metal musical groups Occult rock musical groups