Kev Rowland
By the time that Equlibrium released their 2016 album there had been some changes in the camp, as they were now back to a five-piece, although René Berthiaume was still very much in control. This album sees a shift in the overall sound of the band, as it’s not as crushingly heavy as the previous album, and there is a larger use of keyboards. Robert is still providing the death style growls, but there isn’t as much impact as on the previous release, and one does wonder if the band might be better suited with a different style of vocalist to lift them into yet another direction. In many ways this feels like a transitional work, as they move from styles for which they have become known into something that is potentially more mainstream, although still bringing together lots of different types of metal.
Somehow it just feels lighter, as if there isn’t quite the same amount of passion and angst as there was previously. The drone of the rhythm guitars just don’t have the punch and effect that they need, and although drummer Tuval "Hati" Refaeli does his best to raise the imapct, somehow it just doesn’t work as it should. There are even some songs on the album that have their lyrics in English, and the gruff vocals just don’t work on “Born To Be Epic”, while the least said about the keyboard sounds used on the bridge the better – to call them “twee” would be an understatement.
This is an opportunity missed, and I am sure the reason I am so negative about this album is that the previous one showed so much promise. Mind you, this got to #5 in the German charts, but we all know that chart success is never an indicator of how good anything is. Hopefully the next album will see them more like they were on ‘Erdentempel’