Review Summary: The party is over.
Hunter Gatherer was the first Avatar album I heard as an actual fan — the first one I discovered “in real time,” following every release and interview — and maybe that’s why it carries a special weight. At the same time, I consider it the weakest since the band’s reinvention on Black Waltz: solid, aggressive, with good moments… but uneven.
The creative context itself helps explain the result. In interviews, the band said they were angry during the writing and recording process. It was the end of the jokes, the sprawling narratives, the characters — “it was time to stop the clowning around,” as they put it. The record is therefore drier, more serious, more grounded. This shift gives it personality, but sometimes limits the imagination that has always defined Avatar.
Even so, there are flashes of pure creativity, such as the use of Corey Taylor’s (Slipknot) whistling on Secret Door — an extremely unusual guest appearance, perhaps the most unconventional way possible to incorporate a visiting vocalist without falling into cliché.
The strongest tracks are Colossus and When All But Force Has Failed, where the band combines heaviness, tension, and striking melodies with the precision you expect from them. Other good moments appear in Secret Door and Silence in the Age of Apes. But overall, Hunter Gatherer has more fillers than usual for Avatar, who typically deliver more cohesive and inspired records.
A GOOD album, with strong moments and good ideas, but one that fails to sustain itself from start to finish. There’s energy, ambition, and isolated highlights that show the band’s talent, but the whole suffers from inconsistency, an excess of less-inspired material, and a lack of the emotional connection that makes a record truly memorable. It works well in short doses and has passages worth listening to — especially for fans — but overall it leaves the impression that it could’ve been better with bolder (or tighter) choices. It’s an honest release, with its ups and downs, ideal for those who already appreciate the band, but unlikely to convert new believers.
Best songs:
- Colossus
- When All But Force Has Failed
- A Secret Door
