Band:	Equilibrium
Album:	Rekreatur
Style:	Viking folk metal
Release date:	June 2010

Disc I
01. In Heiligen Hallen
02. Der Ewige Sieg
03. Verbrannte Erde
04. Die Affeninsel
05. Der Wassermann
06. Aus Ferner Zeit
07. Fahrtwind
08. Wenn Erdreich Bricht
09. Kurzes Epos

Disc II [limited edition]
01. Der Ewige Sieg [acoustic version]
02. Nach Dem Winter [acoustic version]
03. Blut Im Auge [acoustic version]
04. Die Prophezeiung [acoustic version]
05. Heimwärts [acoustic version]

I really am not a fan of death metal, or black metal or really any of the extreme genres though I do like a few artists here and there from each one. Despite that I absolutely love folk metal, harsh vocals or not, this is some of the best folk metal I have ever heard with a combination of death grunts and black metal rasps that make for some interesting vocals.

The real treat here is in the instrumentation; Equilibrium never ceases to amaze me as they create a lush musical landscape with epic, pounding guitars/drums and a lot of northern European instruments including a pan flute (that's right, a pan flute) that give it an authentic Scandinavian folk feel, and it sounds fantastic. The contrast in songs is also worth mentioning; one song will be epic and heavy like "In Heiligen Hallen" and the next one will be light, fun and tropical like "Die Affeninsel", which means the monkey island so it makes sense that it would be bright uplifting and fun, a lot like "Unbesiegt" from Sagas, though of course not quite as amazing.

Overall this album is extremely consistent and I would say more so than Sagas partially because it's a bit shorter and more concise and because I love the slight change in sound they achieved in this one. The slower heavier songs on this are also much improved, "Verbrannte Erde" is pretty good, but "Wenn Erdreich Bricht" is simply amazing. It's hard to explain why, but it has this dark, slow, powerful melody that really builds to a climax and then the chorus kicks in and brings a bit of an uplifting sense to it and I love every second of it.

Other highlights of this are "In Heiligen Hallen", "Der Ewige Sieg" and "Aus Ferner Zeit"; though this is one of those albums without a single weak spot. "Der Ewige Sieg" definitely deserves special mention. Everyone loved the tropical folkish feel of "Blut Im Auge" and "Unbesiegt" from Sagas right? Well this is just as good as both of those songs with a very similar feel. "Aus Ferner Zeit" is a longer song, but well worth the nine minutes; every second is on display and with something awesome to add to the mix. The best part of the whole song is at about 6:42 where it builds up to this great climax and then it stops briefly for a single dog bark and then continues. I'm serious; a dog's bark!

Who knows why Equilibrium does some of the things they do, but it certainly shows they have a good sense of humor which is very helpful in this type of music because make no mistake, this is pretty damn cheesy; every bit as much as the cheesiest power metal. So if you're a power metal fan who likes, or can at least tolerate harsh vocals, I would definitely check this album and this band out if you haven't already.