EQUILIBRIUM — Erdentempel (review)

EQUILIBRIUM — Erdentempel album cover Album · 2014 · Folk Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Kev Rowland
Formed in 2001, Equilibrium combine elements of folk music, black metal and symphonic metal to create something that is more than the sun of its parts. This 2014 was their fourth release, but they were going through something of a traumatic period of the band in terms of line-up and was actually recorded as a duo, with founder member René Berthiaume providing all the instrumentation and production and Robert "Robse" Dahn (who had joined in 2010) the vocals . Mind you, this never comes across as a duo, but rather a band firing very much on all cylinders. Lyrically they focus on Germanic myths, and the vast majority of their songs are performed in German, so I have no idea what they’re singing about, and instead view the death-style vocals as another instrument in their own right.

That this is brutal and extreme is never in doubt, but it also contains an incredible amount of melody within the sheer heaviness of what is happening. There is a fierce bottom end that wouldn’t sound out of place on Sabbath album, but mixed with Nightwish lightness and symphonies that also brings in Amon Amarth to create something that is quite unique and never boring. This is incredibly impressive, with strong production that dares the listener to play it as loud as they dare. I found the only way to have this at the correct volume was by listening to it on headphones, and then just when one thinks it can’t get any heavier there is a short mandolin interlude and then they are off again. There is something quite Celtic about it, but far more majestic and over the top than one would normally expect: Enya never sounded like this!

This may not suit everyone, but I was enthralled the very first time I heard it and repeated playings have only made me love it even more.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed