Equilibrium is a German

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 example ...

band from

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. The band's music combines elements of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

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 Blackened death metal (also known as black death metal) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that fuses elements of black metal and death metal. The genre emerged in early 1990s when black metal bands began incorporating elements of death me ...

and

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-genre 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 guitars ...

, though they recently added in more modern influences including

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

and

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...

. Their riffs reflect traditional Germanic melodies. Their lyrical themes focus on Germanic tales and

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

. The lyrics of the band used to be mostly in German, although most recently they prioritized English, especially starting with their sixth album ''Renegades'' (2019).

History

The group toured with Commander and Sycronomica in 2005. The following year they signed a contract with the

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

record label and on 27 June 2008 they released their second album, ''

Sagas Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

''. 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

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 Brutal death metal is a subgenre of death metal that privileges heaviness, speed and complex rhythms over other aspects, such as melody and timbres. The genre was pioneered in the early 1990s by Suffocation and other groups from New York including ...

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 played in the bands Knorkator (2012–2014), Equilibrium (2014), and Evanescence (2015–2022). She is currently a guitarist of the band How We End. Biography Majura wa ...

would be joining the band as new bassist, replacing Sandra Van Eldik. 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

had left the band. On 22 August 2016, the band's fifth album ''

Armageddon Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Armageddon is variously interpreted as either a literal or a ...

'' 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 bassist and clean vocalist Skar (Skar Productions on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

). 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 released their 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. On 18 October 2022, the band opened a public audition to search for a new vocalist. On 7 July 2023, the band released the single "Shelter" introducing their new vocalist Fabian Getto, selected from the audition they opened months before, describing him as "the missing piece they had been searching for". On 11 August 2024, bassist Martin "Skar" Berger announced his departure from the band.

Band members

; Current members *Fabian Getto – vocals (2023–present) *René Berthiaume − guitars (2001–present), keyboards (2003–2005, 2006–present), clean vocals (2014–2019), bass (2015–2016, 2024–present) *Tuval "Hati" Refaeli – drums (2010–present) *Dom R. Crey – guitars, unclean vocals (2014–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 *Martin "Skar" Berger – bass, clean vocals (2019–2024) *Robert "Robse" Dahn – unclean and clean vocals (2010-2022) *Makki Solvalt – bass (2016–2019) *

– 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 *''

'' (2008) –

*'' Rekreatur'' (2010) – Nuclear Blast *'' Erdentempel'' (2014) – Nuclear Blast *''

'' (2016) – Nuclear Blast *'' Renegades'' (2019) – Nuclear Blast

Singles

*"Die Affeninsel" (2010) – Nuclear Blast *"Karawane" (2014) – Nuclear Blast *"One Folk" (2020) – Nuclear Blast *"Revolution" (2021) – Nuclear Blast *"XX" (2021) – Nuclear Blast *"Shelter" (2023) – Nuclear Blast *"Cerulean Skies" (2023) – Nuclear Blast *"Gnosis" (2024) - 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) *"Shelter" (2023) *"Cerulean Skies" (2023) *"Gnosis" (2024)

Lyric videos

*"Prey" (2016) *"Born to Be Epic" (2016)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Equilibrium 2001 establishments in Germany German folk metal musical groups German musical quintets German symphonic black metal musical groups German Viking metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2003 Nuclear Blast artists