The heavy metal visionaries collectively known as AVATAR — vocalist Johannes Eckerström, guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, bassist Henrik Sandelin, and drummer John Alfredsson — previously announced the thoroughly fitting October 31st release of their latest masterwork Don’t Go In The Forest. Pre-save it here.

Johannes Eckerström states, “Death and Glitz is a song about perversion and detachment. A homeless, young runaway collapses and dies on a dancefloor. The crime scene tape becomes a red velvet rope. The investigator’s camera flashes like paparazzi on the red carpet. We love her for dying. Now she’s perfect. Obedient. Anything you want. The true crime genre is as sick as the sickest goregrind band you’ve ever heard. Its popularity and the form in which it’s being consumed, as a choice between Mickey Mouse and hospital dramas, reveals a darkness. 
 
The best ones are when it’s someone young and attractive. A couple goes hiking. Only the man returns. What do we project on this very real person’s very real tragedy? Do we see ourselves, with a strange envy for being so desired? Do we see a canvas on which we can paint the perfect future, if we were there to make it right? Do we completely dehumanize the victim and those who lost her, obsessed with the puzzle? No matter the reason, it is clear that no one is more obedient than the dead. People simply like it when death has a nice rack.”

Regarding the album, Eckerström offers, “The secret ingredient is that we still feel like we’re just getting started. ‘Don’t Go In The Forest’ is an album filled to the brim with stuff we’ve never done before,” continues Eckerström. “It’s all songs and concepts we haven’t been close to touch until now. The mind is wild and we have lost ourselves in the darkest woods, filled with memories, and fantasies. Forbidden thoughts that must be spoken.
 
He concludes, “It would have been impossible to make this album at any other time than now. That’s all we ever wanted, and I think you’ll find it’s all you ever wanted too.”
  
Avatar have gone from strength to strength over the past several years. There’s the critically acclaimed, 2023-released album Dance Devil Dance, which included rock radio chart topper ‘The Dirt I’m Buried In’. Not to mention the scores of sold-out headline shows across the globe and having an actual fossil named after them. The list goes on and on. But the past is the past and the future is, well, dark in the best possible way and that’s JUST how Avatar like it!
 
Avatar show no signs of pausing to take a breath in their quest for absolute world domination — much less stopping. In fact, they Avatar will spend the foreseeable future (if not forever) on the road.

2025 MEXICO  & USA HEADLINE

  • Fri, Oct 31, 25 — Mexico City, MX — The Pepsi Center
  • Wed, Nov 5, 25 — Phoenix, AZ — The Van Buren
  • Thu, Nov 6, 25 — San Diego, CA — The Observatory San Diego
  • Fri, Nov 7, 25 — Riverside, CA — Riverside Municipal Auditorium
  • Sat, Nov 8, 25 — Las Vegas, NV — Brooklyn Bowl
  • Mon, Nov 10, 25 — Seattle, WA — Moore Theater
  • Tue, Nov 11, 25 — Portland, OR — Roseland Theatre
  • Wed, Nov 12, 25 — Boise, ID — Revolution
  • Fri, Nov 14, 25 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Union
  • Sat, Nov 15, 25 — Denver, CO — Fillmore
  • Mon, Nov 17, 25 — Minneapolis, MN — Fillmore
  • Tue, Nov 18, 25 — Madison, WI — The Sylvee
  • Thu, Nov 20, 25 — Detroit, MI — The Fillmore Detroit
  • Fri, Nov 21, 25 — Pittsburgh, PA — Stage AE
  • Sat, Nov 22, 25 — Columbus, OH — KEMBA Live!
  • Sun, Nov 23, 25 — Silver Spring, MD — The Fillmore Silver Spring
  • Tue, Nov 25, 25 — Huntington, NY — Paramount
  • Wed, Nov 26, 25 — Boston, MA — House of Blues
  • Fri, Nov 28, 25 — Allentown, PA — Archer Music Hall
  • Sat, Nov 29, 25 — Charlotte, NC — The Fillmore Charlotte
  • Sun, Nov 30, 25 — Louisville, KY — Old Forester’s Paristown Hall
  • Tue, Dec 2, 25 — Chicago, IL — Riviera Theater
  • Thu, Dec 4, 25 — Nashville, TN — Marathon Music Works
  • Fri, Dec 5, 25 — St. Louis, MO — The Pageant
  • Sat, Dec 6, 25 — Tulsa, OK — Tulsa Theater
  • Sun, Dec 7, 25 — Dallas, TX — House of Blues

 
2026 EUROPEAN HEADLINE TOUR

  • Thu, Feb 5, 26 — Stockholm, SE — Fållan
  • Sat, Feb 7, 26 — Helsinki, FI — Kulttuuritalo
  • Mon, Feb 9, 26 — Oslo, NO — Sentrum Scene
  • Tue, Feb 10, 26 — Copenhagen, DK — Vega
  • Wed, Feb 11, 26 — Osnabrück, DE — Die Botschaft
  • Thu, Feb 12, 26 — Brussels, BE — A.B.
  • Sat, Feb 14, 26 — London, UK — Exhibition
  • Sun, Feb 15, 26 — Manchester, UK — Academy
  • Mon, Feb 16, 26 — Glasgow, UK — Barrowland
  • Tue, Feb 17, 26 — Nottingham, UK — Rock City
  • Wed, Feb 18, 26 — Bristol, UK — O2 Academy
  • Fri, Feb 20, 26 — Amsterdam, NL — AFAS Live
  • Sat, Feb 21, 26 — Esch-Sur-Alzette, LU — Rockhal
  • Sun, Feb 22, 26 — Zürich, CH — Komplex
  • Tue, Feb 24, 26 — Barcelona, ES — Razzmatazz
  • Wed, Feb 25, 26 — Madrid, ES — La Riviera
  • Fri, Feb 27, 26 — Lisbon, PT — LAV
  • Sat, Feb 28, 26 — Bilbao, ES — Santana 27
  • Mon, Mar 2, 26 — Lyon, FR — Le Cube
  • Tue, Mar 3, 26 — Milan, IT — Alcatraz
  • Wed, Mar 4, 26 — Vienna, AT — Gasometer
  • Thu, Mar 5, 26 — Munich, DE — Tonhalle
  • Fri, Mar 6, 26 — Cologne, DE — E-Werk
  • Sat, Mar 7, 26 — Paris, FR — Le Zenith
  • Mon, Mar 9, 26 — Wiesbaden, DE — Schlachthof
  • Tue, Mar 10, 26 — Zlin, CZ — Sports Hall Datart
  • Wed, Mar 11, 26 — Warsaw, PL — Stodola
  • Thu, Mar 12, 26 — Berlin, DE — Columbiahalle
  • Fri, Mar 13, 26 — Hamburg, DE — Docks

SUPPORTING METALLICA — SUMMER 2026

  • Sun, May 24, 26 — Frankfurt, DE — Deutsche Bank Park
  • Thu, Jun 11, 26 — Budapest, HU — Puskas Arena
  • Fri, Jun 19, 26 — Dublin, IE — Aviva Stadium
  • Sun, Jul 5, 26 — London, UK — London Stadium

PHOTO: Johan Carlén 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR