Equilibrium: The Epic Rise

One of the giants of folk metal EQUILIBRIUM have been carving their way into the metal scene since their formation back in 2001. The German group have recently released their sixth studio album Renegades in the closing stages of August, three years on from their previous album Armageddon, as the band continue to grow from strength to strength and reach out to wider audiences across the globe. Guitarist René Berthiaume believes the band have progressed at a steady pace for a number of years, with the EQUILIBRIUM project still going strong after 18 years and counting.

“Usually I know what I want for the next album; we try to make some steps, we try to use new elements or new influences. I think this time the step from the last album Armageddon might be a little bit bigger than our previous albums but I think it’s reasonable. We still have folk influenced melodies, we still have heavy guitars and growling vocals, but we’ve also implemented a lot of new elements – a more electronic sound with clean vocals and more English lyrics also!”

A lot of bands down the years have their own specific influences which help inspire the music and sound – there are bands which are based around an entire theme, such as pirate metal, manga and anime as just some examples, while on the flipside you also have bands that base their music around important historical events and time periods. René though, admits that some of the influences that have helped in the production of Renegades are not quite as orthodox. “Mostly influences come from everywhere! I remember two years ago when I tried out the TV show Stranger Things, I really liked the soundtrack of it. I did some more research about the soundtrack about it and where the influences came. I really liked the kind of 80s style and the electronic sounds, and I think this was kind of an inspiration to use more of this stuff on our recent album as well!”

René remains the only surviving member of EQUILIBRIUM since their formation back in 2001, and in the gap between Armageddon and Renegades the band have seen the inclusion of two brand new band members – Skar joins the ranks on bass, while Skadi Rosehurst adds another dimension on keyboards. While most bands go through periods of a line-up change, with some struggling to adapt and having to change their overall sound or structure, René admits that the transition for both new members was seamless.

“We met Skar already years ago when we’ve been on tour as a session member. We just found out last year that he has a YouTube channel where he makes computer game covers! We really like Skar also because we were always searching for a clean singer for all songs, and also it is critical that he can play the bass as well! With Skadi she was always behind the scenes, part of the band with designing short designs and cover artwork. She had already had an influence on the music because we were pretty much connected and doing a lot of stuff together. and she also had a lot of influence on the music so it was also kind of a natural decision. We had to ask her if she would like to go on stage with us also so yeah, everything just came together and at the moment the fit is pretty good.”

Looking back on the history of EQUILIBRIUM as an entity, René admits that there has been so much change for the band since 2001, all of which has only aided to their growth and enhancing reputation in the metal scene. “If you would compare the records, I will say the first couple to the more recent one, then you would think these are two different bands. But of course, you have to sit there and think that there is 18 years in between them. I personally really like to develop myself and try out new things, and we started our band started like a kind of pagan or folk metal band. I mean, we used a lot of fantasy stuff, mythology stuff, and over the years, this shifted somehow to more personal stuff to more recent topics, actual topics and I think this just fits also to the personal evolution that we have as a human being. We have more serious stuff, but we still have our fun part and I think we have grown up somehow.”

What were the recording and writing processes like?

René: Well we started in LA when we wrote the album, mostly in one run which I really liked, because we have a line that connects all the songs together in some way. Usually I write most of the stuff and make 90% of the song ready, then I show it to the guys and then we work on the songs to make them as good as possible.

How do you feel this record compares to your other work?

René: I think it sounds a little bit more modern, it’s maybe a little bit heavier and I think it’s better certainly when compared to Armageddon!

What are the main differences having both Skar and Skadi on board compared to your previous record?

René: Well, in general, not too much influence in general in terms of the recording process, because it was mostly a scenario where I just locked myself in a room for some months and write an album and then I came out. Of course at the end of the process, there can always be input from the other guys, so for Skar and Skadi when it came to optimize the songs and to push them to the limit that was a really great help and inspiration from them both. We worked a lot on the key parts, which also contributed to the sound that we have right now.

How do you feel the metal scene has evolved in Germany over recent years, particularly in your own genre epic folk metal?

René: That’s a good question! I remember when we brought out our first one or two albums, we were just about entering this peak of this kind of music. I remember when we went on our first European tour, it was in 2008. And we were on tour with bands like FINNTROLL and there was really so many bands that came out in this direction in the likes of folk and pagan and Viking metal stuff, there were so many bands! I think 2008, 2009 and 10 was really a peak of the kind of music. For us though it was actually the fact that we never saw ourselves that much as fitting into the scene. We started like a pagan band or Viking band, especially the first album. But when we brought out our second album, we already knew that we didn’t want to stay just in one genre, we wanted to try out what we wanted to do. So we implemented more black metal stuff, more rock and roll stuff, electronic stuff and even South American stuff. We never really set the borders for ourselves and I think now as of today, a lot of these bands that have were there in the year 2008-2010 time period, a lot of bands disappeared, but some of them, especially those that we went on tour with are still there and that’s kind of funny!

EQUILIBRIUM are currently touring at the moment playing a lot of festivals, how do you prepare yourselves for each one?

René: It’s not easy to come together because we all live in different places. Our drummer is from Israel, and Skar is from Norway, but even the other guys in Germany, we are not living close together so we don’t meet that regularly. We usually meet before a show, and if we have time we do a rehearsal, and then we go and play the show – especially when there is a tour then we maybe take more time and spend more days together. Mostly though we have to connect through internet!

What’s the reception been like for EQUILIBRIUM across the globe at different festivals?

René: Well with having a band that’s able to tour around and discover new countries, especially when we don’t meet that often, we would meet in South America for example, say hello, fly back, and then weeks later, we might meet in Norway and do the same thing, it’s really fun and a fun experience. The people in every crowd is somehow different, and every country has their own approach about showing their passion to the music and it’s really nice to experience this.

Renegades is out now via Nuclear Blast Records. 

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