Kev Rowland This 2015 album was the second from Avatarium, a project put together by Candlemass bassist Leif Edling, drummer Lars Sköld (Tiamat), guitarist Marcus Jidell (Evergrey, Royal Hunt), his wife Jennie-Ann Smith on vocals and Carptree keyboard player Carl Westholm (who also played with Candlemass). I have previously reviewed their debut which was released in 2013, and their third album ‘Hurricanes and Halos’ from 2017, but somehow missed this one out altogether! Although they started life as a doom band, by the time of this album they were already starting to move away from the genre, although still maintaining many of the styles one associates with that.

There are those who will think that Smith got the job as her husband is the guitarist, but while there is undoubtedly some truth in that, she is also a great singer and is definitely there on merit. She lifts the tone of the songs when the accompaniment is incredibly dark, taking it into new areas: it is dark, incredibly gothic, and always with an early Seventies feel. Songs such as “Pearls and Coffins” are exactly the sort of material which used to appear on Uriah Heep albums to change direction and give a lift, smothered in swathes of Hammond Organ. It also allows Smith to throw plenty of emotion and cracks into her vocals, as she relaxes and allows herself to be far more dramatic than when the band is at full bore. I have no idea how I did not listen to this album when it was released but have been more than making up for it recently. Avatarium are definitely one of the top bands playing early Seventies inspired Metal at present, and this is yet another incredibly powerful and consistent release.

aglasshouse Avatarium's second release came in the wake of their semi-breakout self-titled debut, yet in terms of construction is rather different from it's predecessor. For the most part, the massive doom metal elements are gone. Instead, Leif Edling and friends have pulled in a more progressively-oriented, space rock sound as the focal point. This is clearly recognizable in the Floyd-esque, glittery guitar work of Marcus Jidell and the rapturously synthesizer-laden keyboard of Carl Westholm. As a whole, The Girl With The Raven Mask sounds much more akin to a reinvigorated 70's hard rock album with better production qualities than what one might expect a doom metal album to sound like. On the surface this may sound very appealing, especially to someone like myself who is a loud-and-proud fan of the aforementioned, and to be fair the majority of people are drawn heavily to this album because of these elements. Though on listening for myself following my lackluster opinion of their debut album, I'm afraid that Avatarium's sophomore album has galvanized my crotchety alter-ego. Prepare to be frowned upon.

It is clear that The Girl With The Raven Mask takes heavy influence from progressive rock and metal bands of the 70's and 80's, like Dream Theater (especially), Pink Floyd, UFO, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Porcupine Tree, and many others. It's not an easy task reciprocating the brilliance of these bands, and similarly their innovations. Avatarium unfortunately fumbles in this area, the opportunity to craft a brilliant latter-day revival album falling through their outstretched fingers.

The main problem that this album has is it's structure. The album is almost completely centered around vocalist Jennie-Ann Smith, who may as well act as the mascot for this album and the band in general. By the way, when I say the album is centered around her, I mean that in the most extreme way possible. The instrumentation molds itself to her voice, and breaks from her are few-and-far-between. In fact, many of the songs on the album like 'The Master Thief' have massive portions of her lamenting over the tune of slow, leisurely rock numbers. The only problem is that her voice isn't that great. Sure, it's passable to a degree, but it doesn't have enough endearing qualities to hang on her every word like I believe the album was trying to do. When her voice is gone from the scenario, the rest of the band just sounds dull. Simplistic 4/4 drum patterns get old extremely fast, and spacey guitar noodling does similarly. Soaring climaxes permeate the album, but they just aren't dynamic at all. They just sound dry and uninspired. The only song I believe is ostentatious enough for me to find enjoyment is on 'Run Killer Run', a satisfying, crunching tune where the band is seemingly free from the shackles of predetermination, especially drummer Lars Sköld who, originally was mediocre at best, brings in perhaps his best performance in the band's history. Also it's got a pretty sweet hook, in simple terms.

For the sake of treading the same ground over and over again, I'll just wrap up now. Avatarium started out as a group with some potential, but mishandled in it perhaps not the most disastrous way, but a way that is nonetheless unenjoyable in it's delivery. Not all hope is lost, though. Some good qualities still remain and Avatarium still has a chance to turn my frown upside-down.

Warthur Well, don't I feel like a big doof; on listening to Avatarium's debut I was thinking "wow, these guys have got the classic Candlemass sound down to a fine art", and what do you know - Avatarium is in fact a project of Leif Edling, main creative force behind Candlemass.

However, you can't dip your toe into the "female-fronted occult-tinged doom metal" angle without a kickass frontwoman, and Jennie-Ann Smith makes the difference this time around as she did previously. On top of that, to my ears it sounds like Avatarium is developing a somewhat more distinct sound, taking heavy psych influences from Blood Ceremony, Sub Rosa, and other major players in this particular doom subgenre and combining them with Leif's Candlemass-honed writing style to come up with something distinctive of their own. A more than worthy successor to the debut.

Nightfly Avatarium’s self-titled debut album, released in 2013 was one of the best albums ever released in the doom metal genre in my humble opinion so naturally I was looking forward to The Girl With The Raven Mask. It certainly had a lot to live up to and wasn’t going to be easy to better it. Well, I guess Avatarium have done the smart thing and released an album that’s totally different.

Their debut album was built on the incredibly heavy and powerful riffs of guitarist Marcus Jidell and the first thing you notice here is the keyboard work of Carl Westholm is much more prominent and on an equal footing to the guitars. These songs are still heavy though they take on a more retro vibe and the psych element is more evident. Another great thing about their debut was plenty of light and shade in the songs and that’s still the case here, if not more so, perfectly highlighted in two of the best tracks on the album, The January Sea and Pearl’s And Coffin’s, both of which feature early on after the opening title track which captures the band at their most commercial and accessible. The Girl With The Raven Mask is also an early indicator that the band won’t be restrained by the restrictions of the slow tempos associated with doom metal.

One of the biggest revelations of their debut was the stunning vocal performance of then unknown Jennie-Ann Smith who not only has power but infuses each song with feeling and vocal dynamics. If anything, she is even better here having had time to develop her vocal skills out on the road no doubt. The band as a whole are on great form and all turn in strong performances as you’d expect from such seasoned pros.

There’s no denying the quality of this album and I take my hat off to Avatarium for not repeating the same formula as their debut. I think I prefer the debut slightly over this one, partly down to a couple of tracks that aren’t quite on the same level, Iron Mule being the weakest, though in a lesser band would still be a triumph. This is a minor quibble though and such is the quality of TGWTRM it’s going to be in my top 10 albums of the year barring an unlikely late rush of strong albums I’ve yet to hear. Doom metal purists are also likely to prefer the first album but anyone with an open mind for heavy music in general will almost certainly be impressed by this excellent album.

adg211288 The Girl with the Raven Mask (2015) is the second full-length album by Swedish doom metal act Avatarium. Who are Avatarium you may ask? Well if you've somehow managed to miss out on the group's excellent self-titled debut from a couple of years back then you've really missed a trick. Avatarium are a band from Candlemass founder Leif Edling, whose instrumental section boasts an impressive range of players who also play in or have played in acts such as Tiamat, Royal Hunt, Evergrey and many more. The unknown of the group was their vocalist Jennie-Ann Smith (wife of guitarist Marcus Jidell), who also turned out to be something of a secret weapon with her powerful and clear voice working wonders against the backdrop of crushing doom metal that was Avatarium (2013), which I think is one of the best doom metal albums I've ever heard.

But how does a band top such a fine album when it comes to making it's follow-up? Well the answer actually appears to be a pretty simple one: forget the formula that made the debut so effective and do things differently, but at the same time without totally reinventing themselves. Avatarium have scarified some of the heaviness they had before, but as was hinted at with the EP All I Want (2014), they've become a whole lot more psychedelic. Psychedelic influences could be heard on the debut as an occasional flavouring, but on The Girl with the Raven Mask they've become quite the focal point. I'd almost say this is more of a heavy psych album than a doom metal album, were it not so obviously metallic (heavy psych being a form of hard rock).

It's because of this that The Girl with the Raven Mask does some things more unusual for a doom metal album. Take the opening track, Girl with the Raven Mask. This is actually quite the upbeat song from Avatarium. It reminds me of the All I Want title track, which I loved. I'm glad that the band did not just use the EP to try something different before making an album in a business as usual kind of manner. Further tracks starting with The January Sea into the album descend into slower, more familiar doom metal territory but the psychedelic elements remain a constant feature, which sometimes allows the music to have a slightly more uplifting feeling to creep through, but rather than coming across as a happy sounding doom metal album it's more like a glimmer of hope in the darkness. The Girl with the Raven Mask is not a typical doom metal release by any means, and that I think is what makes it so good.

Jennie-Ann Smith proves equally adept at singing the new material while the instrumentalists remain on fine form. The more prominent keyboards of Carl Westholm are a defining feature that gives the music a retro sound which is well paired with Marcus Jidell's guitar, especially his lead playing. There are quite a lot of lighter sections in the music on this album than on the debut, which provide an effective balance of ideas. My favourite song is Girl with the Raven Mask, but I'm also really fond of Iron Mule, Ghostlight, and Run Killer Run as well.

The Girl with the Raven Mask is a change of pace for Avatarium and it's for that reason that not all fans of the debut may be as happy with the change of direction but personally I couldn't be any more chuffed with how this album has turned out. As it happens in the space of two albums the band have produced excellent examples of two sounds that I happen to love, with enough of a connection between the two to still be able to tell that this is a work of Avatarium. The Girl with the Raven Mask is one of this year's best albums. 5 stars; in fact this is only the second release this year that has coaxed a top tier grade from me after review, the other being Iron Maiden's The Book of Souls.