Avatar Country

On their second concept album in as many years, theatrical Swedish metal outfit Avatar trade the fable-based fantasy of 2016’s Feathers & Flesh for a suite of songs written exclusively about a character known as the King of Avatar Country. The fleet-fingered guitar workout of “Legend of the King” introduces the monarch, while the thudding nu-metal of “King’s Harvest,” the lockstep cowbell rock of “The King Wants You,” and the AC/DC-esque swing of “The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country” amplify this royally ambitious mythology.