Avatar Announce First-ever Australian Headline Tour

It’s taken nine albums, 22 years, fan petitions and Australian street teams for legendary Swedish metal band Avatar to tour Australia. This August, they’re finally hitting the East Coast with three shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

In February, the band released their ninth album, Dance Devil Dance, a record that’s as classic heavy metal and death metal as it gets. 

Packed with punchy riffs, high-pitched vocals and growls from vocalist Johannes Eckerström and contrasting song titles like Chimp Mosh Pit and Valley Of Disease, Avatar have continued their incredibly solid output of rock albums.

A month before the album’s release, Avatar released the album closer, Violence No Matter What, a duet with Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale. 

Violence No Matter What finds Hale and Johannes Eckerström exchange vocals, with Hale bringing some impressive screams that befit the song's lyrical themes. 

The music video features imagery from protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested by the Guidance Patrol, the Iranian government's religious morality police. It's alleged that Amini passed away at the hands of the police.

Eckerström said about the song, "Violence No Matter What is about one thing and one thing only. It’s ok to debate and fight and to think differently. But there is a limit, and the line must be drawn at authority held with violence, a world view that cannot survive without enemies, a promised return to a fabricated former glory."

Avatar has long been your favourite metal band's favourite metal band. From Iron Maiden inviting them on tour; to Vinnie Paul claiming Dimebag Darrell would have been jealous of their riffs; to megastar cameos on their albums, including Lzzy Hale on the new one, the band have never lacked adoration from their peers. When Matt Heafy of Trivium had to skip a few shows on their tour for the birth of his twins, his choice to fill in for him was Eckerström.

After Dance Devil Dance debuted at #1 in metal, #1 in rock and #6 for all albums on the Australian iTunes charts, it’s finally our turn to witness the power of Avatar in the flesh.

Tickets go on sale next Thursday, 27 April, at 9 am local time via The Phoenix.

AVATAR

2023 AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES

Friday, 25 August - 170 Russell, Melbourne

Saturday, 26 August - The Metro, Sydney

Sunday, 27 August - The Triffid, Brisbane