Theatrical metal band Avatar have been huge in their native Sweden for the last decade, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that they came to America via eOne. 2012’s Black Waltz and 2014’s Hail the Apocalypse garnered the band some pretty solid exposure  at commercial radio, and while they’re not a household name just yet in America, the May 16th release of their sixth album overall, Feathers and Flesh, should help. The band alread released a song called “For the Swarm,” and today they revealed the first two songs from the album at Metal Injection via a video for “Regret” and “House of Eternal Hunt.” “Regret” kind of serves as an intro to the second song, and both are baroque songs that sound not unlike Avenged Sevenfold. Here’s what singer Johannes Eckstrom says about the two tracks, which open their first-ever concept album:

“What you have is the beginning of the story and all the light and darkness of things to come!,” says frontman Johannes Eckström. “We meet our protagonist, Owl as she lies dying, looking back on the night that would be her last. Regret is about, well regret! Staring into the cold eyes of Death, she wishes to change everything, to go back, to live again.

This leads us to House of Eternal Hunt. It is how things used to be; how they were supposed to be. That is how the tale starts, with a predator ruling the sky on the night that would turn out to be her last! With this concept and these tracks, we want to give you the past, present and, more than anything else, the future of metal as we see it. It is the beginning of an epic journey and we’re glad to have you along for the trip.”

The album will come with a deluxe version that includes an illustrated 60-page, 109 verse poem hardcover book, which we’re assuming some of the imagery in the video is taken from.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/HxkLYYoW-c8[/youtube]

Feathers & Flesh will be released on May 13 on eOne, and can be preordered here.