Avatar is back today with their newest release, Hunter Gatherer. As someone who enjoys Avatar’s music and tries to catch them on tour every chance I get, I had expectations for this new album. Did Avatar meet them? Read on to find out.
The opening track Silence In The Age of Apes has been spinning around in my ears since it’s release in May. My first thought was that what would follow with the new album would be a full frontal metal attack, but after getting my hands on the full release, this album did not hold up to my initial thoughts of what would come next.
Instead, what came was an album that at times felt disconnected and as a listener has elements I struggled with throughout the album. Where Avatar Country had a themed story throughout the album, Hunter Gatherer just feels a little lost at times, but maybe that’s perfect for how 2020 has turned out. The contrast of tracks that opened in full aggression vs the tracks that felt as though they took forever to start or when they did still felt flat was where I struggled with this album.
In tracks like Silence In The Age of Apes, God of Sick Dreams, Justice and Wormhole there’s an almost instant intensity that pulls you in and has you interested in the sound, something I’ve liked about their music on previous releases as well. Then you are met with long intros that just felt too long. I didn’t care for the almost 40 second almost not there intro into Colossus and the song didn’t really pick up before the 1:19 time marker in the track. That’s just overkill for me and these types of intros are the type that often have me hit the skip button. I just couldn’t get into this track and there were a few others like this on the album as well.
Overall with this album, I like that many of the tracks are heavy, picking up more of the early sound of Avatar but with an almost impending doom feel to the album. That for me is a win on this album. There were a few tracks that just didn’t make a lasting impression on me when getting such intensity on the other tracks. Then there were some awkward timings that showed up that didn’t resonate with me that I feel other listeners will pick up on as well. For me, there are a few tracks I will skip going forward, but for the most part I think Avatar did a good job bringing in their heavier touch on this album resulting in a nice release and fans are going enjoy it.
Avatar
Title: Hunter Gatherer
Genre: Metal
Label: eOne Music
Release Date: 2020-08-07
Rating: 4/5
Best Tracks: Silence In The Age of Apes, Justice, Scream You Awake, God of Sick Dreams and Wormhole
