Swedish metal band Avatar has added a Fargo date to their Chimp Mosh Pit Tour on September 28, 2023, outdoors at Fargo Brewing Company. They’ll be joined by Orbit Culture & The Native Howl. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 23rd.
Avatar
The Swedish metal band Avatar claims they will save Heavy Metal. Formed in 2001, members of the group grew up together. John Alfredsson and Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby started the band when they were just 15 and 14 years old. Johannes Eckerström joined at the age of 16, as did Henrik Sandelin and finally Simon Andersson, who left to be replaced by Tim Öhrström, a longtime friend of the band, in 2012.
While constantly redefining what they do and why they do it, Avatar is among a select few groups who have remained a true band of brothers – childhood friends. Self-financing their debut when they were between 18 and 19, they have never waited for anyone’s approval or permission.
Their latest album, Dance Devil Dance, was recorded in the Swedish wilderness, far away from all the perceived glamour of the big city and modern studios. Jay Ruston (Anthrax, Mr. Bungle, Crobot, Stone Sour, Amon Amarth, Uriah Heep etc.) returned as producer. He first worked with the band when he mixed 2014’s Hail the Apocalypse, a role he reprised on 2016’s Feathers & Flesh before taking the wheel as producer on 2018’s Avatar Country and 2020’s Hunter Gatherer. Avatar stayed together for a month in the wilderness to complete the album.
Orbit Culture
In the southern parts of Sweden, between the two major revered metal cities, Gothenburg and Stockholm lie the small town of Eksjö, just about 60 kilometers from Jönköping. From Eksjö, best known for its old wooden architecture dating back to the 1400th century comes the four-piece metal band we know today, Orbit Culture.
![Orbit Culture - Vultures Of North [2022]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ddBRGwIHr-A/hqdefault.jpg)
Orbit Culture was founded in 2013 by member Niklas Karlsson and ex-member Maximilian Zinsmeister. Both singer and guitarist Niklas and lead guitarist Maximilian did participate in different music constellations back and forth across the county. At the age of 17, Niklas and Maximilian met each other through mutual friends in Eksjö, and through the same love of heavy riffing and writing songs; Niklas and Maximilian decided to start a small jam group.
Roll forward the tape to June 2022, when the band entered the Silja Stage at Sweden Rock Festival 2022; the band did not know what to expect or who would show up. To the band’s surprise, the fields in front of the stage were completely packed with fans, so it began.
Having played at Sweden Rock Festival, Download Festival, Bloodstock, and countless other major festivals around Europe, the band ended their summer opening for In Flames at their exclusive show ‘Dalhalla Brinner’ in Rättvik, Dalhalla. This was a significant starting point for touring, as In Flames invited the band to open up for In Flames on their US and European tours later the same year.
Just before the tour started in September of 2022, the band released their latest single, ‘Vultures Of North’, from their upcoming new album. With two hugely successful tours opening up for In Flames in both the US and Europe, the band is now preparing for their new album release, ‘Descent’.
The Native Howl
The Native Howl is an American band from Leonard, MI. Their 2016 release of “Thrash Grass” unleashed the newly-coined genre of the same name, combining the aggressiveness and intensity of thrash metal with the melodicism and precision of bluegrass.
The band has toured 45 of the 50 U.S. States, as well as Canadian dates. Among the highlights were the Rock Legends Cruise with Roger Daltry, Kansas, Buddy Guy, and more; as well as closing FloydFest, and performing The National Anthem before The Chicago Bulls’ game at United Center in Chicago.