Avatarium

All I Want EP

Written by: EW on 04/11/2014 23:39:06

Despite the fact their line-up includes one Leif Edling of Candlemass fame the self-titled debut album from Swedish doom crew Avatarium last year was a rather revelatory affair, the bounding epicness of Edling’s legendary number one band softened with some pop sensibilities and the dreamy lyrics and vocal style of the beautiful Jennie-Ann Smith. The mixture of up-beat rocking tracks and slow, ballad-esque tracks from that album continues here into the "All I Want" EP; the title-track is very much the former style while "Deep Well" plays on the second, before three tracks from this year’s Roadburn show (only the band’s second performance and first outside Sweden) round out the 30 minute EP.

"All I Want" forms around a cyclical riff played out by guitarist Marcus Jidell (Smith’s husband) and keyboardist Carl Westholm, who has a prominent role throughout providing the band their prog tinge, as a very steady pace is kept throughout. The song’s middle section dives into pure Led Zeppelin territory as a variety of percussion sounds play beneath a wild scream before the song concludes in four extremely enjoyable minutes. "Deep Well" is much more contemplative as Smith takes centre stage in a track that at it’s core would not sit uncomfortably on a Lana Del Rey record if one chooses to forget that Smith’s delivery is much brighter and more impassioned than Rey tends to manage. Despite the soaring crescendos later in the song it is "All I Want" that gets my vote of the two. The following live trio, all taken from the self-titled LP, are very well recorded from Roadburn with the highlight being the segueing of spacey synth at the start of "Pandora’s Egg" into the delightful finger-tapped chord progression of it’s core. So simple yet startlingly redolent of experienced songwriters like those in the band. "Tides of Telepathy" and the bluesy "Bird of Prey" are fine additions too, but aside from a bit of stage talk at the end from Smith their proximity to the recorded versions might leave purchasers of the "All I Want" wishing for a bit more novelty for their money.

Yep, there’s not much more to it than that. No covers as one might expect on such a release, merely a showcase for two new tracks which follow a very similar style to their older siblings in the band’s discography; probably not the most valid of reasons for a whole new release making "All I Want" one for keen fans only despite the obvious quality of the music and the musicians within.

6

Download: All I Want
For The Fans Of: Candlemass, Heaven and Hell
Listen: Facebook

Release date 14.11.2014
Nuclear Blast Records

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