Swedish theatrical metal titans Avatar have announced a headline tour across the UK and Europe this autumn, the Don’t Go In The Forest run rounding off a huge year for the band. The dates land off the back of a summer supporting Metallica, a string of European festival stages and shows in Australia and New Zealand, all behind their new album Don’t Go In The Forest.
The tour opens on 20th November at KK’s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton and winds through the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe before closing on 19th December in Wrocław, Poland. Danish death metal crew Neckbreakker provide support across every date.
Frontman Johannes Eckerström sets the tone with characteristic relish. “A Europe in November. A Europe in December. Cold, wet and dark. We all know what it’s like, and we know exactly what you’ll need,” he says. “The first European leg made us feel very lucky to be doing this. This time around, we will do everything within our power to make you feel lucky to participate. We live by but one ethos: better than ever. I really want to see you, and you really don’t want to miss this.”
Avatar’s reputation rests as much on spectacle as on songs, blending suggestive theatrics with unapologetic heavy metal showmanship. They’ve built a name as a surefire stage closer across festivals in Europe and the United States, broken into Latin America off the back of an Iron Maiden support run, and racked up chart success with the likes of ‘The Dirt I’m Buried In‘, all on their own independent label Black Waltz Records.
UK and Ireland dates on the Don’t Go In The Forest tour:
20/11 — Wolverhampton, KK’s Steel Mill
21/11 — Southampton, O2 Guildhall
22/11 — Cardiff, Depot
24/11 — Dublin, National Stadium
25/11 — Belfast, Limelight 27/11 — Norwich, UEA
28/11 — Newcastle, Northumbria University
29/11 — Edinburgh, Corn Exchange
The European leg then takes in Amsterdam, Oberhausen, Budapest, Prague, Innsbruck, Linz, Ulm, Esch-sur-Alzette, Zürich, Frankfurt, Padova, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Bratislava and Wrocław through December.
A headline Avatar show is rarely just a gig, and a winter run through rooms this size feels like exactly the kind of dark, theatrical spectacle the season calls for.
