A triple bill of metal overtook downtown Buffalo this past Saturday night when Avatar, Fleshgod Apocalypse and Frozen Soul pounded the audience’s flesh and senses into omission. Avatar is calling this the “Don’t Go Into the Forest” tour (also the name of their 10th studio effort released in October of 2025) that is spreading across 26 cities in North America between April and May of this year.
Opening the show was Frozen Soul, who were from Fort Worth, Texas. The 8 song 30 minute set focused on songs from their new record ‘No Place of Warmth.’ Some of those tracks included “Skinned by the Win,” “Chaos Will Reign” and “Invoke of War.” For the song “Absolute Zero,” vocalist Chad Green donned a what looked like a metal Hockey mask with wings coming out of it. It looked super cool! They ensured to get a mosh pit going and had members of the audience partaking throughout their short set.
Next up was the Italian symphonic death metal band Fleshgod Apocalypse, led by the operatic voice of Veronica Bordacchini. As the band took to the stage, she held an Italian flag as she sang through “Ode to Art (de’ Sepolcri).” I was very impressed by the band and how they really delivered their brand of music to the audience. They closed their set with a emphatic rendition of “The Violation” that had bassist/vocalist Francesco Paoli go back and forth on vocals with Bordacchini. Fleshgod Apocalypse truly made their 35 minute 8 song set a memorable one with the Buffalo crowd.
Avatar took to the stage at 9:30pm sharp. This is the 2nd time I’ve seen Avatar; with the 1st being at the Rock on the Range festival (now referred to as Sonic Temple). So, I had some familiarity with the band after seeing them almost 10 years to the day. Again, they didn’t disappoint with their over the top theatrics blended in with their brand of Swedish metal. They took to the stage with the band standing on a platform that was slowly pulled from the back of the stage to the front of the stage. While this was happening, the drum kit parted in half for this small platform to make way to the front of the stage. A cloak covered vocalist Johannes Eckerström as he sang through the opening tune “Captain Goat.” After the 3rd song, “The Eagle Has Landed,” Eckerström addressed the Buffalo crowd by telling them “your asses are mine for the next hour and such and such.” That indeed held true as him and his band mates bandmates delivered an impressive set. Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby sat on a throne as the other played around him. The end of the set had confetti cannons erupt all over the audience.
Again, I though Avatar had a little for bit of everything in this show. I’m glad to see that the band is making their set bigger and better. Also, their performance has gone to new heights in the 10 years since I last seen them too. Kudos to the guys in Sweden for delivering a high quality show!
Avatar setlist:
Captain Goat
Silence in the Age of Apes
The Eagles has Landed
In the Airwaves
Bloody Angel
Death and Glitz
Murderer
The Dirt I’m Buried In
Colossus
Torn Apart
Howling at the Waves
Legend of the King
Let it Burn
Tonight We Must be Warriors
Encore:
Don’t Go in the Forest
Smells Like a Freakshow
Hail the Apocalypse
We would like to thank Caitlin McGeehan from Atom Splitter for the credentials to review the show.