AVATAR's JOHANNES ECKERSTRÖM: 'METALLICA's 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' Is The Heaviest Song Ever Recorded'

In a new interview with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", AVATAR frontman Johannes Eckerström was asked which METALLICA album he thinks is better, "Ride The Lightning" or "Master Of Puppets". He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When I talk to people who like the music but don't necessarily play the music and talk about the finer details in what makes something awesome, and talking about, for instance, when talking about fast and slow songs, I love to show an example of how 'Aces High' is the fastest song ever recorded by IRON MAIDEN, which, of course, there are, on paper, much, much faster songs, but there's something about having that drive when you play, it almost feels like it's falling apart… It's there in the drumming already and the bassline and it carries through. And that's how, when you push it, when you push the tempo.

"Every kid who's been playing drums even once hears someone talk about AC/DC, of course, and you take, for instance, 'Back In Black'. You have to have that drag when you play," he continued. "Then you have certain iconic songs that provide a certain ideal. And in the same way that I always said 'Aces High' is the fastest song ever recorded, 'For Whom The Bell Tolls', I think, is the heaviest song ever recorded. And I know MESHUGGAH and NEUROSIS exist, and I know OBITUARY exists, and all kinds of stuff. And that's also true. And that's the heaviest thing ever also in another way. But just those riffs, that anger, with that rage and sense of — I don't know — its importance that comes through in how that riff is played, that primitive riff in the beginning, and the decision to put the cymbal crash on the first snare in the bar after instead of the other one, and all that. So that song — I've never tried to write a song like that, but I keep going back to thinking about that song in terms of what's actually heavy music. Yeah, we tune down and that part of the sound is important, but none of the things that matter before — you can't put the cart in front of the horse… So it has to be 'Ride The Lightning'."

This past April, Johannes was asked by Mexico's Summa Inferno if it's "too soon" to think about new music from him and his bandmates, seeing as AVATAR released its latest album, "Dance Devil Dance", in February 2023. He responded: "Oh, no, not at all. We've been writing since last year. We are always writing. The ambition is to — in less than a year, we hope to be in a studio recording new great songs. So it's always ongoing, because remember, when we put out an album, it's already old to us in a way, so at some point, it's time to move on and start looking forward. And that lives together with the touring and everything else. So all of that is kind of happening all at once. But no, it's not too soon, but the exact details of it, how it's gonna [be] released and stuff… Well, I can tell you that second half of 2025, we sure can imagine that an AVATAR album could and should come out. Then we'll see if we live up to that. But we intend to."

Johannes was also asked about the supposedly mixed fan reaction to "Dance Devil Dance", considering that AVATAR once again experimented with its sound. He said: "Well, I think we are experimenting as much as we always do, because we always want to change. Every album is based on wherever we were at that given time, so we will never — whatever we did in the past…. I mean, okay, AVATAR will always be a metal band, but beyond that, we kind of never really worry about what we have already done. We do go for the next great thing. And I think our fans are used to this — they're used to that 'Avatar Country' can happen and then 'Hunter Gatherer' can happen immediately after that, and so on."

He continued: "And as far as reception, I do believe that this is our best-received album so far, in terms of that more people liked it than disliked it. But you can't anyway please everyone. So I can't worry about that. As a matter of fact, I always prepare myself for even worse results every time an album is done. I listen to it one last time for myself and ask myself, 'Okay, if everyone hates it, is that okay?' Well, yes, because I like it and everyone else can just forget about this and go and listen to something else. But we have to live with this. So I answer that question every time. So I'm always ready for way worse reception, but instead this is the biggest thing we have ever made. So, I think it went pretty well."

"Dance Devil Dance" was recorded in the Swedish wilderness, far away from all the perceived glamor of the big city and modern studios. Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, MR. BUNGLE, CROBOT, STONE SOUR, AMON AMARTH, URIAH HEEP) returned as producer. He 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.