EQUILIBRIUM

For most of this century, EQUILIBRIUM have been reliable stalwarts of the folk metal scene. Omnipresent and consistent, the Bavarians have rarely put a foot wrong, but the grand achievements of which they have always been eminently capable have never quite come to pass. Musically speaking, EQUILIBRIUM have always been distinctive within their chosen sphere, and early albums like "Sagas" (2008) and "Rekreatur" (2010) stood proudly apart from both the goofiness of FINNTROLL and KORPIKLAANI, and the more cerebral bluster of fellow countrymen WOLFCHANT, all of whom were ostensibly operating on the same territory. In more recent times, founder Rene Berthiaume has drifted away from the most conventional folk metal tropes and dragged his band into a new era. At least since 2016's "Armageddon", EQUILIBRIUM have been on a mission to modernize, with contemporary elements finding a more prominent place within their songwriting. The response to 2019's "Renegades" was somewhat mixed as a result, but purists aside, Berthiaume's determined, evolutionary fervor has been an unequivocal success. After a lengthy gap, "Equinox" arrives as a definitive milestone in their story. Showcasing the talents of new singer Fabian Getto, alongside a more wholesale musical transformation, their seventh full-length effort has been a long time coming. It is also swiftly apparent that the intervening years have given this underappreciated band plenty of time to reconfigure their sound and, more importantly, to write the most fiendishly catchy and uplifting songs of their career to date.

One of the hardest things to achieve in heavy music is a credible shift into more commercial territory. EQUILIBRIUM have never been overtly obscure or opaque, but "Equinox" is a determined step towards a more outward-looking approach. This album is absolutely bulging at the seams with great songs, all of which have huge melodies that detonate with fearless immediacy. "Earth Tongue" is a moderately brutal entry point, but with the new, refreshed musical outlook that Berthiaume has embraced placed front and center. The real magic starts with "Awakening", wherein the electronic elements that have been tinkered with in the recent past are more fully incorporated. Getto's vocals are brilliantly forthright and thunderous, his deathly growls delivered with meticulous precision, but it is the seamless blend of spiraling keyboard motifs and succinct, muscular riffing that clinches the deal here. Nearly every song on "Equinox" boasts at least one sky-bound, lacerating hook, and the relative brevity of these songs ensures that EQUILIBRIUM's rebirth is instantly invigorating and vibrant. "Legends" is absurdly catchy and euphoric, as the deft hybrid of styles is whipped into a near-perfect, symbiotic whole. There is still plenty of death metal power propelling the heavier moments along, but these songs are bright and infectious, where on former albums they were more squarely rooted in the specifics of the band's chosen subgenre. "Gnosis" is an absolute peach of a song, which somehow combines strong echoes of DEPECHE MODE's "Never Let Me Down Again" with the fiery forward thrust of 21st century metal; "Bloodwood" is another insanely catchy gem that skillfully balances the anthemic with the mysterious; and "I'll Be Thunder" is simply sublime: a majestic, three-minute whirlwind of ideas and bittersweet melody.

Elsewhere, "Borrowed Waters", which features stunning vocals from Roniit, drifts elegantly into more progressive and symphonic territory while retaining the earworm ethos that drives this whole enterprise. "Nexus" is a finale that will echo long in the back of sympathetic minds, EQUILIBRIUM's canny blending of fervent modernity and ancient mystique erupting in sophisticated sparks. Blessed with a production that makes the floor rumble while hinting at some grand, celestial catharsis, "Equinox" is EQUILIBRIUM's finest album by some considerable margin, and a testament to what happens when talented people stick to their guns and embrace change with real passion and self-belief. It seems highly unlikely that they will be unsung heroes of the European folk metal firmament for much longer. This is the beginning of a triumphant new era.