AVATAR Releases New Standalone Single 'Crying Fire'

Swedish metallers AVATAR — vocalist Johannes Eckerström, guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, bassist Henrik Sandelin, and drummer John Alfredsson — have released a new standalone single "Crying Fire".

"Crying Fire" is no throwaway B-side. This is AVATAR. The band intentionally withheld the track and decided to strike when the time was right. Fortunately for fans, that time is now.

Eckerström explains: "'Crying Fire' is very special to all of us. It was written and recorded as part of the 'Don't Go In The Forest' [album] sessions. When making the final selection for album tracks, this one was a given. But then we started asking ourselves something: 'What if we saved the best for later? What if we kept this gem away from the world for a while?'"

He continues, "It certainly stands tall on its own. I hear a relentless firestorm of emotions. It hits me in a deeply hidden place, and I hope it does the same for you. I could say a lot about what the song is about, but I’ve learned that sometimes it’s better to get out of the way and simply let it be heard for what it is. The best I can say today is that it's about enduring pain and loving passionately."

AVATAR released its tenth studio album, "Don't Go In The Forest", last October via Black Waltz Records. The follow-up to 2023's "Dance Devil Dance" was once again produced by Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER and URIAH HEEP, among many others.

Ruston first worked with AVATAR when he mixed "Hail The Apocalypse", a role he reprised on "Feathers & Flesh" before taking the wheel as producer on "Avatar Country" and "Hunter Gatherer".

"Dance Devil Dance" featured a guest appearance by Lzzy Hale of HALESTORM on the song "Violence No Matter What". The record also included the single "The Dirt I'm Buried In", which hit No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.

Johannes formed AVATAR in 2001. The band's lineup has remained virtually the same ever since, save for guitarist Tim Öhrström, who entered the fray just over a decade later. AVATAR also includes guitarist Jonas Jarlsby, bassist Henrik Sandelin and drummer John Alfredsson.

Eckerström told Metal Symphony about how AVATAR has managed to keep its lineup intact for a decade and a half: "For us, the most important thing is friendship. That's not just a nice thing to say — it's very practical. Our job is to write and perform our own music; we don't use outside songwriters or fake it in the studio. We want to write, play, and perform what's truly ours — and do it in a way that keeps us friends. Sometimes that means making decisions that might not be the best for business in the short term but are better for the band and our relationships in the long run. That's always the priority. The longer we stay together, the more opportunities we have to grow — both personally and artistically. That's the secret: we genuinely want to stay together."

Regarding how much each AVATAR member contributed to the composition of "Don't Go In The Forest", Johannes told Metal Symphony: "It's hard to measure. Our producer, Jay Ruston, often says AVATAR is the most democratic band he's ever worked with. Traditionally, the main songwriters are Tim, Jonas and myself. But the process is so collaborative that all five of us get deeply involved in finishing the songs. Take the title track, for example: it began as a song Tim wrote, but we couldn't make the full version work. Years later, Jonas brought back one of the riffs, added new bass and drums, and built something around it. Then I came in to clean it up, rearrange parts, add keyboards and a pulsing bass line — and everyone added something. Each song is different. Sometimes one of us writes most of it; sometimes it's a complete group effort. But the key is that by the end, everyone feels ownership — it becomes our song."

Photo credit: Johan Carlén