Avatar bring Zakk Wylde into the fold for festive new single Naughty List
Avatar have released new festive single Naughty List, featuring a guest appearance from guitarist Zakk Wylde, ahead of the band’s UK headline dates later this month.
The track arrives with an official video and finds Avatar taking a suitably off-kilter approach to seasonal songs, with Wylde contributing a characteristically fiery solo. The collaboration began after Avatar and Wylde’s band supported Metallica on the M72 World Tour across Europe last summer, with guitarist Tim Öhrström inviting him to take part.
A song for the outsiders
Vocalist Johannes Eckerström said the song’s title is less about misbehaviour than it is about standing apart from the crowd.
“The idea is that the ‘Naughty List’ is full of people who are different rather than bad, and someone needs to have their backs, too,” Eckerström says. “It is a song about forgiveness and acceptance, and doing what is actually the right thing to do, rather than just following the norm.”
Naughty List follows the band’s 2025 album Don’t Go In The Forest, which marked its first anniversary at Halloween. The new single lands as Avatar resume their European headline run, with three UK shows currently scheduled for Norwich, Newcastle and Edinburgh following a run of postponed dates earlier in the month.
UK and Ireland dates this month
The first five dates on the UK and Ireland leg have been postponed, while the remaining British shows are set to take place across the final weekend of November.
- 20 November – Wolverhampton, England – KK’s Steelmill (Postponed)
- 21 November – Southampton, England – O2 Guildhall (Postponed)
- 22 November – Cardiff, Wales – Depot (Postponed)
- 24 November – Dublin, Ireland – National Stadium (Postponed)
- 25 November – Belfast, Northern Ireland – Limelight (Postponed)
- 27 November – Norwich, England – UEA
- 28 November – Newcastle, England – Northumbria Uni
- 29 November – Edinburgh, Scotland – Corn Exchange
After completing the European dates in December, Avatar will head to Latin America in January 2027. The band will also play a 10 Years of Feathers & Flesh show at London’s Royal Albert Hall on 30 March, before rejoining Metallica for the North American M72 World Tour in May and June.
Avatar are also confirmed to appear at Wacken Open Air on 31 July.
More AVATAR on Punkinfocus: Avatar set Royal Albert Hall show for Feathers & Flesh anniversary (July 2026) · Avatar Step Out of the Shadows for Autumn 2026 Tour (May 2026) · Avatar Tease New Album with Dark New Track Death and Glitz (October 2025) · Avatar Set to Unleash ‘Don’t Go In The Forest’ on Halloween (August 2025) · AVATAR Announce 2026 European Tour with Valentine’s Night Spectacle in London (April 2025)
