Avatarium – Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead (Review)

Avatarium are a doom rock band from Sweden and this is their sixth album.

From 2017’s Hurricanes and Halos, to 2019’s The Fire I Long For, to 2022’s Death, Where Is Your Sting, I have thoroughly enjoyed witnessing Avatarium get better and better at their chosen craft. Now we have a new opus – Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead – which gives us a 43-minute opportunity to once again explore Avatarium’s absorbing and entertaining worldbuilding.

The promo blurb states that Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead is darker and heavier version of Avatarium, and I can see why. The record brings back elements of Avararium’s earlier doomier sound, but not at the expense of their more recent accomplishments. In fact, the band continue to incorporate all of the various elements of their seductive dark rock, while embedding them into a now-doomier holistic framework. Not content with just this, they then set their sights broader, continuing to progress and develop their sound, ensuring that once again every release is a step forward for them. This succeeds in making for a multifaceted album that uses the band’s diverse skillset well.

Avatarium’s capacity to build and sustain immersive melancholic atmospheres is always impressive. On these new songs it’s apparent their have lost none of this ability. The well-written songs feel intimate and filled with feeling, but still find the time to peel off huge riffs when the situation calls for it.

With a textured delivery and a detailed approach to songwriting, Avatarium deliver eight songs that showcase their charismatic doom rock in a flattering light. Whether it is the expressive melodies, the warm drumming, the expressive riffs and rhythms, the always exceptional vocals of the singer, or a myriad number of other aspects of the accomplished music, everything on Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead screams pure quality and passion.

Avatarium have delivered yet another album that’s destined to be remembered by fans of this sort of dark, doomy, emotion-rich rock. Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead is a strong new addition to the band’s discography. If this sort of music appeals to you, then Avatarium’s latest is an essential way to start 2025.