With Wolfszeit Festival fast approaching, now is a great time to take a look back at Sagas from Equilibrium, who will be playing at the festival on August 30.
Sagas, released in 2008, is Equilibrium’s second studio album and is an exceedingly strong release that plays on the band’s strengths from start to finish. Equilibrium know how to craft engaging and gripping music, and is an album you’ll keep wanting to come back to.
One of the things that makes Equilibrium so good is the exceeding amount of power and intensity their music has; you’re in for a gripping listen from start to finish with this band. Blut im Auge (arguably one of the band’s most popular tracks, with good reason for it to be!) is one such example, kicking off with a soft version of the main melody before the full band kicks in and everything suddenly gets so energetic so quickly that it’s almost impossible to keep up! It’s just one of those songs that goes down a treat in a live environment and is definitely a good starting point if you’re looking to properly get into the band.
Another strong track is the slightly softer Unbesiegt, which begins with lush pan flute before the main body of the track gets going and brings the noise once more. One of the highlights of this track is the softer stripped-back section in the middle, which really helps the track to stand out as it’s quite a unique approach to take, especially with the ambient noises in the background.
Sagas rounds off with 16-minute epic Mana, and whilst it is most definitely a track in its own right, it also brings together the strongest elements of the album into one song and it works well as a way to sum the release up.
An all-round excellent release – it’s an album you simply will not tire of.
8/10
You can read our review of their most recent effort, Erdentempel, here.
