Avatar - Don’t Go In The Forest (Album Review)

Avatar - Don’t Go In The Forest
‍Released: October 31, 2025

Lineup

Jonas "Kungen" Jarlsby // guitars
John Alfredsson // drums
Johannes Eckerström // vocals, piano, keyboards
Tim Öhrström // guitars
Henrik Sandelin // bass

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Back in the 2023, we asked the burning question: Who the fuck are Avatar? In explaining why you should care about the Swedish metal veterans, writer Gareth Williams noted that they had evolved from serious death metal to avant-garde entertainers. Dance Devil Dance was proof of concept, a ghoulish experience that traversed the metalsphere. Somehow they have upped the ante on Don’t Go In The Forest, their tenth studio album and arguably their most diverse offering yet. 

Straight off the bat they get weird. The first thing you hear is a flute and military snare drum paradiddle. ‘Tonight We Must Be Warriors’ is a straight up power metal song that defies any reasonable expectation of an Avatar song. It certainly challenges fans to be adaptable as they embody their band name by taking on different musical personas throughout the album. A couple of tracks later they hit us with ‘Captain Goat’ which kicks off with a sea shanty singalong. Someone in the band asked the question: what if Black Sabbath were pirates? Thus we have doom metal riffs with growls on the bridge but lyrically this is pirate metal isn’t it? It’s bonkers in the best way. 

There’s still elements of death metal. Second track ‘In The Airwaves’ is a double kick beat down that’s more metalcore than death metal thanks to its gorgeous clean hook. ‘Abduction Song’ keeps it a little bit more pure with some relentless double kicks and sinister growls, a song that reflects the IT imagery of the album cover. ‘Take This Heart and Burn It’ is just ferocious even when your Johannes Eckerström chimes in with an operatic vocal. Whilst I find the heavy parts engaging, I question whether this is really where their heart is at. Credit to drummer John Alfredsson who flicks between this style and others on a track by track basis. 

Where Avatar excels is that the album manages to keep the different influences in check for a unique listening experience. The title track ‘Don’t Go in the Forest’ is a heavy rock track that will appeal to fans of Ghost with its arena sized chorus. It’s in the arena environment that a song like ‘Death and Glitz’ makes sense with its fat bass and disco beat. They stretch things further with the 80s style piano driven ballad ‘Howling at the Waves’, which is the emotional centrepoint of the album. There’s a neat little guitar and synth duel too. These different seeds all bare fruit on ‘Dead and Gone and Back Again’, which quite frankly crossed so many genres that I can’t list them all here. They retain their dark edge and theatricality but added a musical depth that’s limitless in what the band can do from here. Every song is its own thing, but every song is also unmistakably Avatar. 

There’s one thing I can say about Don’t Go In The Forest: Avatar is ready to break out. They’re part of that strange Swedish scene, including Volbeat and Ghost, who like At The Gates but not at the expense of their love for ABBA. It's metal, though not as common folk know it, but there’s enough hooks and personality to make this one a great LP for Halloween and worth repeat listens in the coming months. 

Rating: 9 / 10
‍Don’t Go In The Forest is out October 31. Pre-save here. 
Words by KJ Draven @kjdraven