CoC : Equilibrium - Turis Fratyr : Review

Equilibrium - _Turis Fratyr_
(Black Attakk, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo (7 out of 10)

Equilibrium from Germany build from a slightly blackened, folksy, keyboard-led melodic metal platform, to which they add fantasy and epic elements a la Bal Sagoth -- in fact, the two bands are not entirely dissimilar. The music is competently written, played and produced, but some of it is cringeworthy enough to almost ruin the whole experience. At its best, _Turis Fratyr_ puts together a number of decent riffs and keyboard fills, all nicely propelled by the rhythm section. At its worst, you will find cheesy, happy-sounding attempts at epic melodies that could have easily been avoided, as well as some pretty generic passages.

It's nothing against fantasy-based epic metal, though it admittedly isn't one of my genres of choice; but I feel bands often tread a fine line in this genre when it comes to some of the melodies they choose. Equilibrium sometimes step on the wrong side of this border, but even if you don't possess a predisposition for fantasy themes, _Turis Fratyr_ fares surprisingly well overall. It's by no means revolutionary, and in some parts it will more than likely annoy some listeners, but it still contains plenty of good material and remains easily one of the better examples of this genre I have heard in a long while.

Contact: http://www.black-attakk.de

(article published 10/3/2005)