Avatar/Fleshgod Apocalypse: The Novo - Los Angeles, CA - 4/17/26
Swedish melodic death metal band Avatar announced a tour across the USA. In 2025, they released their tenth album titled Don’t Go in the Forest. Joining them on tour are Italian symphonic death metal maestros Fleshgod Apocalypse and death metal band Frozen Soul. The second stop on the tour was The Novo in Los Angeles, California. Fans lined up to see some incredible live bands and quickly filled the venue.
Fleshgod Apocalypse released their sixth studio album Opera in 2024. Since then, they have been actively touring in support of the album. The lights went out and the crowd cheered as opera vocalist Veronica Bordacchini came out front and center of the stage holding the Italian flag. She sang the intro song "Ode to Art (De' sepolcri)" which was a beautiful opera song sang to perfection. The rest of the band members came out and started the show with "I Can Never Die," the first song from the latest album. Brutal metal was in full force and the crowd responded with some moshing. Fleshgod Apocalypse always put on an amazing show, and they continued to deliver with songs like “Minotaur (The Wrath of Poseidon),” “The Fool,” “Sugar,” and “Epilogue.” Even with a short set time, they made every minute count. The final song of the night was one of their best songs, “The Violation.” For a lot of people in attendance, it was their first time seeing or even hearing about Fleshgod Apocalypse, but you could hear them talking amongst each other on how awesome they were. Fleshgod Apocalypse finished up their set and made way for the headlining band of the tour.
Avatar released their tenth studio album Don’t Go in the Forest in 2025. They returned to the USA to continue touring for the album. Plenty of Avatar fans were seen in attendance wearing their merch and even face paint. The lights went out once again and the packed venue cheered as the band members came out one by one. The stage was covered in a dark blue light. The first song performed was “Captain Goat,” the first song from the new album. The members were wearing a black cloak and holding up lanterns to match the theme of the song as if out at sea. The song ended and the members went out back to remove their cloaks. The next song was "Silence in the Age of Apes" and made for a great song to continue their awesome metal music. Their live performances are one of the best and fans in attendance always rave as to how amazing they are when it comes to live shows. Many more of their best songs were performed live which included "A Secret Door," “Bloody Angel,” “Torn Apart,” and “Let It Burn.” The audience kept the energy going as they moshed the whole show and plenty of crowd surfers kept the security up front busy and alert. The show came to an end with “Tonight We Must be Warriors” and Avatar left the stage soon after that. After a few minutes of the crowd cheering, vocalist Johannes Eckerström came back out to speak to the audience. The first encore was the album title track “Don’t Go in the Forest.” Eckerström made note on how and sweaty the shows get and, because of that, he and the fans end up smelling. The next song was obvious, and it was one of their best songs “Smells Like a Freakshow.” The final song of the night was their most popular song, “Hail the Apocalypse.” The audience showed no signs of slowing down as the continued to mosh and crowd surf. The show came to an end as Avatar thanked the audience for coming out and left the stage once again. Nothing but happy people could be seen as they just witnessed another great performance by one of Sweden’s best bands.
