On Thursday April 16,2026 if you were near or around Channel 24 in Sacramento on could think that there was a carnival in town. Well you would be partly right as the headliner for the night was Avatar the Swedish melodic metal band whose whole concept is ring leaders at a carnival and let me tell you they do an amazing job at leading the audience!
As soon as I walked in to the venue the first thing one would noticed on stage is skeletons being impaled on a spear, kind of hard to miss lol. The first band of the night was Frozen Soul a band from Texas. If one were to describe Frozen Soul it would be traditional crushing death metal with thrash riffs and hardcore breakdowns. Their music and lyrics have themes based on winter, death, and suffering. Frozen Soul wasted no time in showing the audience what they were about they stepped on the stage with an intimidating presence and proceeded to shred our face off. What stood out to me during their performances was how catchy the music was it went from brutal traditional riffs to catchy choruses that got the crowd fist bumping.
The second band of the night was Fleshgod Apocalypse definitely a band to behold. A proud Italian band, they are what happens when you mix classic opera, Mozart and symphonic death metal with brutal growls. The best way I can describe their attire is Victorian style with makeup that looks like they are dead almost like an undead army. The first song of the night was “Ode to Art” start with solemn piano and opera singing the crowd was in silence almost like listening to an anthem it was beautiful and confusing if you haven’t seen them before. Then it kicks off into death metal with blast beats and brutal instrumentation then you realize why they are there. The bands whole performance honestly feels like you are at a modern opera or symphony and can’t help but watch in awe as they go back and forth between the opera vocals and growls.They did an amazing job engaging the crowd and in a classy fashion ended their set with a bow.
The headliner of the night was the Swedish metal band Avatar. I have had the pleasure of watching them before in fact this was my fifth Avatar show and they get better every time. I enjoy watching the reactions of people who haven’t seen them and to see what they have changed to their show. They are on tour promoting their latest release “Don’t Go In The Forest released” on Halloween of 2025. They opened the night coming out in cloaked figures under a dark blue light and the singer holding a lantern the song sounded like a sea shanty haunting and beautiful. The following song is then a more traditional Avatar song they do an outfit change into all leather almost like a paranormal circus and under bright lights you can see the trademark face paint of the singer.
As soon as the song starts the band windmill’s in unison something that always looked bad ass in my opinion. The show continues to be a mix of their classic hits and new hits something everyone can like they trade off between brutal drumming, catchy bass lines guitar solos, screaming, and more melodic catchy singing.Safe to say the ringmaster left an impression on everyone that night. In the time I’ve seen them perform they have gone from opening shows at Aftershock Festival to a late afternoon slot which which is a testament to their growth and only goes up from there!
To find out more about Frozen Soul follow their socials:
https://www.instagram.com/frozensoultx/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1hwwmQI1vhQamuIksyDKG6
https://www.youtube.com/@frozensoultx/featured
To find out more about Fleshgod Apocalypse follow their socials:
https://www.instagram.com/fleshgodofficial/?hl=en
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5ctFffJBdJe8PZL7W7NeML
https://www.youtube.com/user/FleshgodApocalypse
https://shop.fleshgodapocalypse.com/
To find out more about Avatar follow their socials:
https://www.instagram.com/avatarmetal/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4jpaXieuls7LVzG1uma5Rs
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyaPf0E-PRRZH3UvvxNPeEw
