Equilibrium is a German symphonic
folk metal
Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exampl ...
band from
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
. The band's music combines elements of
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
,
pagan metal
Pagan metal is a genre of heavy metal music which fuses extreme metal with " the pre-Christian traditions of a specific culture or region" through thematic concept, rustic melodies, unusual instruments or archaic languages, Wiederhorn 2009, p. 6 ...
,
melodic black metal and
symphonic metal
Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitar ...
with various other influences. Their riffs reflect traditional Germanic melodies. Their lyrical themes focus on Germanic tales and
Germanic mythology
Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism.
Origins
As the Germanic language ...
. The songs of the band are almost always in German, although most recently they prioritized the English in their songs, mostly with their sixth album ''Renegades'' (2019).
History
The group toured with
Commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain.
...
and
Sycronomica in 2005. The following year they signed a contract with the
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...
record label and on 27 June 2008 they released their second album, ''
Sagas
is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the Play ...
''.
In February 2010, Equilibrium had to cancel their appearance at the Winterfire Festival in Germany "due to serious restructuring within the band". It was later revealed that vocalist Helge Stang and drummer Manuel DiCamillo had left the band. The following month the band announced that Robse, vocalist in the German
pagan metal
Pagan metal is a genre of heavy metal music which fuses extreme metal with " the pre-Christian traditions of a specific culture or region" through thematic concept, rustic melodies, unusual instruments or archaic languages, Wiederhorn 2009, p. 6 ...
band
Vrankenvorde, had been chosen as their new vocalist.
In the same year, Israeli drummer Tuval "Hati" Refaeli, who is also the drummer of the
brutal death metal band Viscera Trail joined the band. The band, full again, released their third album, ''
Rekreatur'', via Nuclear Blast, on 18 June 2010.
On 27 June 2013, the band announced their first EP, titled ''Waldschrein'', which contains a new single along with its acoustic version, a remake of the song "Der Sturm" and an old, previously unreleased song titled "Zwergenhammer", as well as their own cover of the main theme for the game ''
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'', composed by
Jeremy Soule
Jeremy Soule (; born December 19, 1975) is an American composer of soundtracks for film, television, and video games. He has composed soundtracks for over 60 games and over a dozen other works during his career, including ''The Elder Scrolls'', ' ...
, titled "Himmelsrand". The EP was released on 16 August 2013.
The song "Waldschrein" is part of the next album of the band, ''Erdentempel'', which was released in June 2014. However, the album contains a completely re-recorded version of the song. Two days after the announcement of the album, founding members and siblings Andreas Völkl and Sandra Van Eldik decided to leave the band for unspecified reasons.
On 20 May 2014, it was announced that Dom R. Crey (guitarist of
Wolfchant and frontman of
Nothgard) would be joining the band as new guitarist, replacing Andreas Völkl. On 7 June 2014, one day after ''Erdentempel'' release, it was announced that
Jen Majura
Jennifer Majura Indrasen (born 16 June 1983) is a German musician. She was the rhythm guitarist for American rock band Evanescence from 2015 to 2022.
Biography
Majura was born in Stuttgart, West Germany, and started in music at the age of s ...
would be joining the band as new bassist, replacing Sandra Van Eldik. With her addition to the band, Equilibrium is complete once again. The band promoted the release of their new album with a European tour, supported by
Trollfest and Dom's other band Nothgard.
On 2 November 2015, the band announced via Facebook that bass player
Jen Majura
Jennifer Majura Indrasen (born 16 June 1983) is a German musician. She was the rhythm guitarist for American rock band Evanescence from 2015 to 2022.
Biography
Majura was born in Stuttgart, West Germany, and started in music at the age of s ...
had left the band.
On 22 August 2016, the band's fifth album ''Armageddon'' was released via Nuclear Blast.
On 22 May 2019, the band announced their sixth album ''Renegades'', which was released on 23 August 2019 via Nuclear Blast. This album is the first one featuring new keyboardist Skadi Rosehurst and new bassist and clean vocalist Skar (Skar Productions on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
).
On 13 August 2021, Equilibrium released a new single, titled "Revolution", and announced that they are expected to release their seventh studio album in 2022.
On 27 October 2021, the band will release their new single, "XX", to celebrate their 20th anniversary.
On 3 October 2022, citing a loss of "symbiosis", Equilibrium announced the departure of Robse as vocalist, wishing him well for the future
Band members
![Hellfest2017Equilibrium 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Hellfest2017Equilibrium_01.jpg)
; Current members
*René "Berthammer" Berthiaume − guitars (2001–present), keyboards (2003–2005, 2006–2019), clean vocals (2014–2019), bass (2015–2016)
*Tuval "Hati" Refaeli – drums (2010–present)
*Dom R. Crey – guitars, unclean vocals (2014–present)
*Skadi Rosehurst – keyboards (2019–present)
*Martin Skar Berger – bass, clean vocals (2019–present)
File:Equilibrium Rockharz 2018 21.jpg, Robert "Robse" Dahn
File:Equilibrium Rockharz Open Air 2014 03.JPG, René Berthiaume
File:Equilibrium Rockharz 2018 07.jpg, Tuval "Hati" Refaeli
File:Equilibrium Rockharz 2018 01.jpg, Dominik "Dom" Crey
; Former members
*Robert "Robse" Dahn – unclean and clean vocals (2010-2022)
*Makki Solvalt – bass (2016–2019)
*
Jen Majura
Jennifer Majura Indrasen (born 16 June 1983) is a German musician. She was the rhythm guitarist for American rock band Evanescence from 2015 to 2022.
Biography
Majura was born in Stuttgart, West Germany, and started in music at the age of s ...
– bass (2014–2015)
*Andreas Völkl − guitars (2001–2014)
*Sandra Van Eldik − bass (2001–2014)
*Helge Stang − unclean and clean vocals (2001–2010)
*Manuel DiCamillo − drums (2006–2010)
*Markus Perschke − drums (2005–2006)
*Basti Kriegl − drums (2005)
*Julius Koblitzek − drums (2003–2004)
*Henning Stein − drums (2001–2003)
*Armin Dörfler − keyboards (2005–2006)
*Conny Kaiser − keyboards (2002–2003)
*Michael Heidenreich − keyboards (2001–2002)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
*''
Turis Fratyr'' (2005) – Black Attakk
*''
Sagas
is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the Play ...
'' (2008) –
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...
*''
Rekreatur'' (2010) – Nuclear Blast
*''
Erdentempel'' (2014) – Nuclear Blast
*''
Armageddon
According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
'' (2016) – Nuclear Blast
*''
Renegades'' (2019) – Nuclear Blast
Singles
*"Die Affeninsel" (2010) – Nuclear Blast
*"Karawane" (2014) – Nuclear Blast
*"Renegades – A Lost Generation" (2019) – Nuclear Blast
*"Path of Destiny" (2019) – Nuclear Blast
*"One Folk" (2020) – Nuclear Blast
*"Revolution" (2021) – Nuclear Blast
*"XX" (2021) – Nuclear Blast
EPs
*''Waldschrein'' (2013) – Nuclear Blast
Demos
*''Demo 2003'' (2003)
Music videos
*"Blut im Auge" (2008)
*"Der Ewige Sieg" (2010)
*"Wirtshaus Gaudi" (2014)
*"Eternal Destination" (2016)
*"Rise Again" (2016)
*"Renegades – A Lost Generation" (2019)
*"Path of Destiny" (2019)
*"Final Tear" (2019)
*"One Folk" (2020)
*"Revolution" (2021)
*"XX" (2021)
Lyric videos
*"Prey" (2016)
*"Born to Be Epic" (2016)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Equilibrium
German folk metal musical groups
German symphonic metal musical groups
Viking metal musical groups
German black metal musical groups
Symphonic black metal musical groups
Musical groups established in 2003
Musical quintets
Nuclear Blast artists
2001 establishments in Germany