1. Tonight We Must Be Warriors
2. In The Airwaves
3. Captain Goat
4. Don’t Go In The Forest
5. Death And Glitz
6. Abduction Song
7. Howling At The Waves
8. Dead And Gone Back Again
9. Take This Heart And Burn It
10. Magic Lantern

Halloween night, a flicker of candlelight, and a tin whistle echoing through the dark. That’s how Don’t Go Into The Forest begins, Avatar’s tenth album, and their most chaotic invitation yet. “Tonight We Must Be Warriors” charges out of the gate like a battle hymn for the broken and the bold, perfectly setting the tone for the madness to come.

“In The Airwaves” comes swinging right out of the gate with big riffs, bigger hooks, and a solo that feels like it’s clawing its way straight out of the speakers. It’s one of those tracks that makes you remember why Avatar shows hit so hard; all the precision of a machine, but with a heartbeat underneath.

“Captain Goat” is pure Avatar nonsense in the best possible way. It’s a sea shanty that probably shouldn’t work, but somehow does makes up as equal parts punchline and power anthem. You can already picture the crowd shouting it back next tour. The title track, “Don’t Go Into The Forest,” takes things into darker, moodier territory, a bass-driven march that nods toward mid-2000s Gothic metal while feeling completely their own. Then “Death and Glitz” comes crawling out of the shadows, the band peeling back the paint to show something a little uglier, a fascination with death and detachment that’s all too real in the age of scrolling and numbness.

“Abduction Song” is where things get weird in the best way. It dips a toe into death metal, then spins around and winks at you with a pop melody that shouldn’t belong anywhere near it, but Avatar’s always been good at chaos that makes sense. The falsettos and strange little turns give it this haunted elegance, like they’re daring you to figure out what planet this sound came from.

Then there’s “Howling at the Waves” and “Dead and Gone Back Again,” the album’s slower moments. “Howling” feels like taking a breath in the middle of the storm, still heavy, yet reflective. “Dead and Gone” digs a little deeper, darker, pulling together everything they’ve built here: the experimentation, the melody, the madness. It’s a reminder that Avatar aren’t just throwing paint at the wall; they know exactly what they’re doing, and they’re evolving while doing it.