Gallery, ReviewDitch This MagazineAugust 29, 2026gallery, live, melbourne, Odin Imaging, Nathan Goldsworthy, odin imaging, Destroy All Lines, Gwar, Dregg, Max Watts

Avatar @ Northcote Theatre 28-08-26

Gallery, ReviewDitch This MagazineAugust 29, 2026gallery, live, melbourne, Odin Imaging, Nathan Goldsworthy, odin imaging, Destroy All Lines, Gwar, Dregg, Max Watts

photos: Nathan Goldsworthy @odin.imaging

Some shows feel like a standard night out at a venue. Others feel like stepping into a fully realized, dark-fairytale kingdom.

Avatar’s long-awaited return to Melbourne belonged entirely to the latter. Arriving off the back of their tenth studio record Don't Go In The Forest, the Swedish juggernaut stepped into the ornate, gothic expanse of The Northcote Theatre and immediately turned it into their own personal carnival of macabre heavy metal.

The shift to a grander venue fit the band’s ambition seamlessly. From the second the house lights plunged into darkness, frontman Johannes Eckerström took control of the room with terrifying ease. Decked out in full ringmaster regalia and wielding his cane like a conductor’s baton, he moved across the stage with an unhinged charisma—switching on a dime from soaring, operatic cleans to guttural roars that shook the the historic facade.

Behind him, the band played (and windmilled) with relentless precision. The guitar pairing of Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström laid down sharp, melodic riffs that cut through the mix with razor clarity, while bassist Henrik Sandelin and drummer John Alfredsson provided a dense, pounding rhythm section that kept the floor moving continuously.

Material from Don't Go In The Forest landed with heavy-handed authority, proving the new songs carry just as much bite as the legacy tracks. Yet it was the swing of crowd-pleaser "The Dirt I'm Buried In" and the explosive finale of "Smells Like a Freakshow" into "Hail the Apocalypse" that brought the entire room to a violent crescendo of synchronized headbanging.