Review : EQUILIBRIUM – “Rekreatur”

Equilibrium – Rekreatur
Release Date: 2010Jun18 (EU)
Label: Nuclear Blast
Rating: 3.5/5

Equilibrium has to be one of the leading solid folk/viking bands in the industry. Their previous albums, Turis Fratyr and Sagas, brought diverse metal fans together by combining the melodic death sound like Demon Burger (Dimmu Borgir, sorry), and the epic folk roots like Korpiklaani or Eluveitie, together to form a fabulous new sound.  This entire album is in German (as to be expected) which is awesome! Most metal bands eventually throw in some English or switch completely to it as their career broadens, but Equilibrium is definitely sticking to their heritage.

Rekreatur, or “recreation” is a slightly deceiving name for the album. Though a solid and enjoyable listen, it sounds like an extended version of Sagas, except maybe with slightly less passion. Don’t get me wrong, the album was great, just a little watered down. Robse’s growling vocals were impressive to say the least, but seemed a little out of place at certain points with the musical tone. Their classic keyboard horns, bells, flutes, and synthesized battle sounds are as prevalent as ever. They totally pull off that sound, which I raise my pint to––it’s difficult to do without making it sound cheesy, like so many power metal bands unfortunately do.

I would have liked to hear more riff creativity, pace changes, melody diversity, and whatever else that could make the songs more interesting and unique. A lot of the songs like “Verbrannte Erde” and “Die Affeninsel” have droning repetitive melodies that get old quick.

Then, they did something that I despise when any metal band does; throwing in random pitchy female vocals that sound horribly out of place, like in “Aus Ferner Zit” and “Wenn Erdreich Bricht.” I may be biased, but there is rarely a female vocalist that sounds legit in folk metal. All I want is the deep rustic vocals that you want to wreak havoc with.

Funny enough, “Fahrtwind” (lmao) is actually one of my favorite songs on the album. It has a funky Devin Townsend vibe to the guitar riffs, and the drums are as epic as ever. There’s also some great overlays, like a beautiful flute piece.

All in all, I’d recommend this album to Equilibrium fans and folk metal fans alike. Just don’t expect anything too ground-breaking or you’ll be disappointed.

FCC OK
Tracks: 5, 6, 7

01. In Heiligen Hallen
02. Der Ewige Sieg
03. Verbrannte Erde
04. Die Affeninsel
05. Der Wassermann
06. Aus Ferner Zeit
07. Fahrtwind
08. Wenn Erdreich Bricht
09. Kurzes Epos