Avatar, over the years, has proven to be a band that doesn’t just sit on its laurels. Dance Devil Dance is a testament to this. Over the last decade and a half, the band has accrued quite an interesting and dedicated fanbase, and with each album, they’ve pushed for a different sound or further experimentation. This time around, they move forward by looking a bit to the past.

Instead of a cohesive concept album like the last three or so, the songwriting has moved in a much more free direction. With no concept fully taking shape, it allows each member to really play with the sounds they enjoy, and further experiment as a band. With a footstomping gallop, songs such as “Gotta Wanna Riot”, “Dance Devil Dance”, and “Hazmat Suit” echo some sound and direction from the Avatar Country era. Feathers & Flesh and Hunter Gatherer have their influences on tracks such as “Train” and “Clouds Dipped in Chrome”.

This is clearly a band that is having both the time of their life, and enjoying the musical landscape. Johannes Eckerstrom (vocals) sounds stronger than ever, as well as the rest of the band. The solos, drums, and bass on this album is some of the strongest material they’ve written in years. And certainly the most fun.

If Avatar continues, it’s quite possible they’ll come to the front of masked or make-up covered bands, and hopefully become to some level of Slipknot, on top of the world.