A little bit of a Nick Cave, late-era Johnny Cash, late-era Bob Dylan, Cowboy Junkies, Maria McKee, Indigo Girls 90s alt-rock feel to this - - but stick with me, folks, the parallels will get weirder still. There are also touches of Mark Lanegan, Blackmore’s Night, UFO, and Draconian. Weird, because the founder is Leif Edling of Candlemass. Oh, you definitely get Doom Metal in there too; you can take the Leif out of Candlemass, but you can’t take the Candlemass out of Leif, but this is truly a distinctive secondary project for him.

Sometimes you get strummed guitar chords, clean or distorted, and other times you get deep, Sabbathy single note riffs. The title track and “God is Silent,” possibly the two best tracks, showcase these variations perfectly. “Death Where is Your Sting” is all rootsy emotion and storytelling; “God is Silent” is snarl and gritted teeth.
Lead vocalist Jennie-Ann Smith sings with a world-weary, jaded smile, with Melissa Etheridge grit to her voice. There are a lot of strong elements at play for Avatarium - - the sound, the songwriting, the dynamics, the mood - - but she is the key. Her voice and personality are what makes this clock tick.
In spite of its VH1-ness, I dig this album. The best songs on “Death, Where is Your Sting” sound like Tarantino-bait for background use in one of his films. That’s a compliment. In addition to “God is Silent” and the title track, I’d name “Nocturne” and “A Love Like Ours” as the standouts.