That band with one of the most epic sounds in metal return with a release that will definitely not please long time fans.
As mentioned in many posts on this site before, Equilibrium are one of my all time favourite bands. Their huge and bombastic sound has struck chords with me at times when I needed it most – music to help you transcend into another universe making use of otherworldy, folky melodies with cinematic progressions at their foundations. 2008’s “Sagas” still sits as one of my favourite albums of all time, and still remains critically acclaimed by lovers of the folk and pagan metal genres.
Over the past couple of albums Equilibrium have experimented, and simplified making their sound more accessible to a wider audience however maintaining their core epic sound to keep long time fans in the balance. Without a doubt or hesitance in saying, the band’s new effort “Renegades” is a completely different animal.
Taking a more industrial and riff oriented approach, it’s clear from tracks like ‘Path of Destiny’ and ‘Hype Train’ that Equilibrium want to break out of their pagan / folk metal labels to be able to be the band that can write and produce anything in an epic style. While the diversity and experimentation hits the mark at some points, the techno synths and simplistic patterns do retract from the foundations you bought into with the band and feels a little awkward in places.
It’s acceptable to believe that there comes a time in an artists life where they want to try something different, or make use of the multitude of talent Equilibrium have recently acquired. Plenty of the songs are well-written, showing diverse and intrinsic value in adding clean vocals, new style synths and some simpler musical progressions, while keeping an epic style in tow. Bar the fantastic appeasement track “Himmel und Feuer”, you just wouldn’t know it was Equilibrium.
Having listened to the album a few times now, it is undoubtedly a good solid metal album that can be enjoyed looking at it from a simple perspective. Anybody who has bought into the Equilibrium however brand of pagan metal will vehemently oppose this new offering.
Rating: 3/5
