Swedish heavy metal outfit AVATAR — made up of vocalist Johannes Eckerström, guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, bassist Henrik Sandelin, and drummer John Alfredsson — has dropped the official video for their latest single, “In The Airwaves.” The track follows May’s “Captain Goat” and marks another bold step toward their highly anticipated tenth studio album.
The video for “In The Airwaves” was directed by the band’s longtime visual collaborator Johan Carlén, a filmmaker and photographer based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
“AVATAR is defined by the challenges we put in front of ourselves. We always push for more and look for new angles,” the band commented in a statement. “In this ever-ongoing pursuit for the next great thing, we return to one of the most important aspects of metal: Speed.”
They added, “This is the fastest song we have done in what seems to be an eternity, and it feels good to push the engine to the max again. In a way, it feels like a return to something. Enjoy our rage.”
In an interview with Nic and Big J from Boise’s 100.3 The X Rocks, Eckerström shared insights into the band’s upcoming album, due out later this year.
“It’s our tenth album. That’s a high number,” Eckerström noted. “I don’t think many bands would phone it in at this point, but there’s a risk of taking things for granted. The further you go, the harder it can be to find a reason — why is this important to us right now? What do we want to put on there that we are really passionate about right here, right now? And I think we nailed that.”
Eckerström also teased the album’s experimental spirit. “There are all these things we haven’t done before. I get to pretend I’m Elton John — I’ve been playing a bit of piano. But now I get to do it while drums are being played, so I feel I’m in the band — finally, after all these years,” he joked. “We worked with outside musicians, did orchestral things… I don’t think it’s a prog album, really, but it has some of our most clearly progressive parts ever.”
He described a dreamlike, intuitive creative process: “An ethos I had for a while… was just trust what’s beautiful. Let the subconscious speak. Once you revisit it, it’s very likely to mean exactly what it needed to. There’s a surrealness to it, a dream factor.”
Despite the introspection, Eckerström stressed that the band never strays from its core mission: “It’s between 40 and 45 minutes of kick-ass heavy metal, always with ambition — forever and ever — when it’s AVATAR, it’s songs that you haven’t heard yet.”
Speaking to Detroit’s WRIF last month, Eckerström explained the duality behind “Captain Goat,” describing AVATAR’s unique blend of theatricality and emotional exploration: “We really intend to be, first and foremost, a good time. But at the same time, the writing comes from the concept of finding dark rooms in your soul… and kind of airing it out.”
Asked why “Captain Goat” was chosen as the first single, he responded: “It relates poorly to the whole album because AVATAR doesn’t write the same song twice — that’s by design. But this one stood out. Even in the demo stage, people got excited. It’s a very direct song.”
He went on to describe how it came to life: “While writing, we use drum machines and work in our own corners. Rehearsing is when we really feel the song come alive. Every step of the way, there was something about this track. It stands out, but it’s still built from the same blocks we always use for our heavy metal.”
While the band hasn’t revealed the title of the upcoming album, Eckerström hinted at its thematic depth: “It’s a beautiful title. It really ties it together. It invokes mystique and tempts you to break taboos. It lures you into a forbidden place… When you see the title, you’re gonna go, like, ‘Ah.’”
AVATAR will launch a U.S. headlining tour this fall, supported by ALIEN WEAPONRY and SPIRITWORLD. They’ll also be joining IRON MAIDEN and METALLICA on select dates, and are set to perform their biggest show to date in Mexico City.
