‘Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead’ is the first Avatarium album that founder Leif Edling did not contribute to at all, and that is something I see as a good thing. Ever since singer Jennie-Ann Smith and guitarist Marcus Jidell took over the songwriting, Avatarium improved. It has turned them from a fairly doomy band into a seventies-styled, but surprisingly fresh-sounding rock band, and the dark folk elements have really enhanced their sound, culminating in their 2019 masterpiece ‘The Fire I Long For‘. ‘Beteen You, God, the Devil and the Dead’ is nearly as good, perhaps a bit more experimental.

There aren’t many bands that have this much of a typical sound that can still take their song material as many places as Avatarium does. It helps that Smith’s voice is unlike any other in the genre. Her voice isn’t gritty, and she is not out to dazzle you with notes from as many octaves as possible, but she has a range of expression that many of her peers should envy. Musically, ‘Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead’ appears to look for the extremes of the Avatarium sound, with the album containing some of their heaviest songs, but also some of the most introspective moments they released thus far.

Especially the second half of ‘Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead’ contains a number of songs that are reminiscent of the band’s doom metal origins, without actually sounding all that metal. Jidell’s guitar often being doubled by a rumbling Hammond organ definitely pushes it more towards seventies rock territory, though I would say that Avatarium is generally slightly too heavy to be classified as such. The instrumental ‘Notes from the Underground’ in particular has some crushing riffs, but ‘Until Forever and Again’ does something similar. The latter is also deceptively riff-heavy for a song that leaves so much space for the vocals.

During the calmer tracks, Avatarium can also surprise. The closing title track is largely a piano ballad with excellent vocals by Smith, but the strategically placed guitar parts by Jidell, including a fantastic solo, truly elevate the song. ‘Lovers Give a Kingdom to Each Other’ is a perfectly arranged, dark folk blues song which opens up for another great guitar solo, and the definite highlight of the album. The fantastic ‘My Hair Is on Fire (But I’ll Take Your Hand)’ is a bit heavier, but also features one of Smith’s most beautifully dramatic vocal performances, while ‘I See You Better in the Dark’ is simply a very fun, driving rocker.

My only minor complaint about ‘Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead’ is that I wish it had more tracks like ‘I See You Better in the Dark’. The tempos are generally quite subdued, and one more spirited rocker could have made for an even more dynamic album. But that’s really something that only comes up when you think about it. As it stands, ‘Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead’ is an album on which a lot of different flavors of heavy rock music are explored, and they’re all done successfully. Smith and Jidell are fantastic songwriters.

Recommended tracks: ‘Lovers Give a Kingdom to Each Other’, ‘My Hair Is on Fire (But I’ll Take Your Hand)’, ‘I See You Better in the Dark’