When it comes to Swedish metal, Avatar aren't like the others. While they hail from the melodeath capital of Gothenburg, the band led by the theatrical Johannes Eckerström have an eccentric approach to music that blurs all forms of metal into a bundle of dramatic, over-the-top, highly addictive heaviness. They've dropped eight albums since forming in 2001 and each one is different than the last, so where's a new fan to start?
For them, Revolver is here to help with our "Point of Entry" series, in which we ask artists to pick the one standout cut from across their entire catalog that they believe is the best place for virgin listeners to begin their journey. Below, Eckerström does the honors. It's a tough choice.
"Hail the Apocalypse"
It is very hard for me to pick, because what the songs mean to me can be so very different from what people get from them. I also know that different songs play special parts in a lot of people's lives. That being said, I think many other people would pick "Hail the Apocalypse," and I think that makes sense in more than one way. There is no riff like that in the world, and it's an example of how we successfully took something fundamentally odd and strange and created a song that is catchy and merciless at the same time.
It's as good a mission statement as any. We want to make metal that both pushes the envelope by being something new and fresh, while also not disappearing up our own asses. At the end of the day it's all about banging your head.
