The Rock Blogger

Equilibrium. Sagas . 2008. 3.5 stars .

Sagas is probably the most over-the-top metal album you’ll come across this year, with blaring synths, pan flutes, and even accordions rounding out epic tales about viking conquests and battles. Even with the snarling black metal vocals and blistering drum patterns, Equilibrium’s sound is not as much dark as it is adventurous. Feverish pacing, soaring melodies and wild musicianship make this a surprisingly fun, if not downright silly, soundtrack for your daily pillaging. With so many musical elements layered against each other in every song, its remarkable that things sound as fluid as they do. Thankfully, the band’s performance is as virtuosos as it is raucous, barely letting up in intensity across these 13 tracks.

While Sagas may seem too busy or ham-fisted in its attempts to be epic, its speed and eclectic instrumentation is certainly daring and refreshing in a genre vastly populated by the glum and the suicidal. It may not have the viciousness of Bathory’s groundbreaking Viking albums, or even the incredible scope of Moonsorrow’s work, Sagas still stands as a unique, and strangely satisfying effort. So, if you can stomach the unrepentant saccharine flavor, Sagas has plenty to offer.

Equilibrium - “Wurzelbert”

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 11:20 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.