Ahead of AVATAR’s Australian return, Johannes Eckerström dives deep into fear, ritual, literature, dogs, stage transformation and why maybe the scariest thing in the forest… is yourself.
AVATAR’s Johannes Eckerström doesn’t do interviews so much as he opens strange little doors in reality and politely invites you to walk through them.
Somewhere between tour exhaustion, dogs, forbidden knowledge and Haruki Murakami novels, the Avatar frontman spiraled into one of the most fascinating conversations we’ve had in a long time ahead of the band’s 2026 Australian return.
What started as a discussion about the Don’t Go In The Forest tour quickly mutated into something far stranger — a philosophical deep dive into fear, curiosity, confrontation and why humans are instinctively drawn toward the forbidden.
“The warning means that there’s something to keep away from you,” Johannes explained while unpacking the album title. “So we should go investigate.”
That sentence alone feels like the entire spirit of Avatar condensed into a single thought.
The band’s theatrical live shows have long blurred the line between concert, ritual and psychological carnival, but beneath the chaos sits a surprisingly introspective core. At one point Johannes openly described himself as “Team Snake” when discussing the biblical story of temptation, knowledge and authority — a perfectly Avatar-esque way of explaining humanity’s attraction to darkness and mystery.
And then came the interview’s defining moment.
“Maybe the scariest thing in the forest sometimes… is just you.”
That’s the thing about Avatar. Behind the face paint, spectacle and controlled madness is a band deeply obsessed with self-confrontation. The monsters lurking in the woods are rarely literal.
Of course, it wasn’t all existential dread and surreal philosophy. Johannes also spoke about touring with Metallica, feeding kangaroos on the band’s last Australian run, getting caught listening to awkward audio-book sex scenes at the gym, and confirmed that despite commanding stages around the world as “The Clown,” he’s still happiest hanging out at home with his dogs in the Swedish woods.
Honestly? That might be the most terrifying revelation of all.
Avatar return to Australia this August. Enter the forest at your own risk.
This is the gospel.
I bite crowd surfers.
Killer
