Avatar at Rockhal

Avatar began in 2001 in Mölndal, Sweden, under another name, Lost Soul. Today their singer, Johannes Eckerström, wears clown face paint and runs the show like a ringmaster, over metal with its roots in melodic death metal.

Avatar play the Rockhal Main Hall on Friday 11 December. Doors at 18:00.

The Swedish band treat a metal show as theatre, with Johannes Eckerström fronting it in full circus-master mode. Underneath the staging the music is more varied than the costumes suggest, moving between melodic death metal and something closer to hard rock.

The show was moved from 21 February, and Rockhal confirms that tickets already bought stay valid for this date. Standing, Main Hall, and note the early doors at 18:00.

Who are Avatar?

Avatar are a metal band from Mölndal, in Sweden. Drummer John Alfredsson co-founded the group in 2001, first under the name Lost Soul, and today he plays alongside singer Johannes Eckerström, guitarists Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, and bassist Henrik Sandelin. Their roots are in melodic death metal, with groove and alternative metal folded in, and the bands they name as influences include In Flames, Rammstein and Marilyn Manson.

On stage, Eckerström wears clown face paint on stage, a look first seen on Black Waltz, and the venue describes him as the band’s ringmaster. They have spent years on the road: in July 2022 they played their 1,000th show, at Cadot Rock Fest. When “The Dirt I’m Buried In” reached number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in 2023, after a 31-week climb, Eckerström said: “Hitting the charts was never a priority, but now that we’re here, I’m grateful.”

Their records

• Thoughts of No Tomorrow (2006): the debut album.
• Black Waltz (2012): number 25 in Sweden, and the first record with the clown face paint.
• Hail the Apocalypse (2014): reached number 97 on the US Billboard 200.
• Avatar Country (2018): a concept album where every track title contains the word “King”.
• Hunter Gatherer (2020): number 4 on the UK rock chart.
• Dance Devil Dance (2023): home of “The Dirt I’m Buried In”.
• Don’t Go in the Forest (2025): their tenth studio album, released on 31 October 2025.

Songs to know before the night: “Bloody Angel”, “The Eagle Has Landed”, “Smells Like a Freakshow”, “Vultures Fly”, “Tonight We Must Be Warriors”, “Colossus” and “The Dirt I’m Buried In”.

Milestones

• 2015: “Vultures Fly” won Best Rock Video at the Loudwire Music Awards.
• Summer 2025: support act for Iron Maiden on stadium and arena dates of the Run For Your Lives tour across Europe.

The In the Airwaves Tour

Avatar come to Belval on the In the Airwaves Tour, part of Rockhal’s Temple of Metal series, with a brand new live production. The show was first planned for 21 February 2026 and moved to December, with tickets for the original date still valid. It is also a Liveurope concert, a pan-European initiative that supports artists on the rise. As Eckerström put it when announcing the run: “Everything must be better than ever.”