Recreation
| Recreation | ||||
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| Studio album by Equilibrium | ||||
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Publication |
2010 |
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| Label (s) | Nuclear Blast | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Pagan Metal , Melodic Death Metal , Symphonic Metal , Folk Metal , Neoclassical Metal |
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Title (number) |
9 (without bonus tracks) |
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running time |
62 min 01 s (without bonus tracks) |
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| occupation |
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René Berthiaume, Seref-Alexander Badir, Chris Klatt |
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Studio (s) |
Helion Studios ( Munich ) |
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Rekreatur is the third studio album by the German pagan metal band Equilibrium . It was released on June 18, 2010 by the German record label Nuclear Blast .
In addition to the standard version, the album was also released as a 2-CD limited digipak edition, with five new acoustic recordings of songs from the four previously released sound carriers on a second CD . The Nuclear-Blast-Mailorder also offers a box set exclusively limited to 500 copies, which in addition to the digipak also includes an equilibrium chain and a numbered certificate.
The album was promoted as part of the Heidenfest tour together with Ensiferum , Swashbuckle and Heidevolk in autumn 2010.
History of origin
The recordings were made in Munich's Helion Studios between winter 2009 and spring 2010. In the middle of the recording, on February 14, 2010, Equilibrium announced that it would be separating from singer Helge Stang and drummer Manuel Di Camillo. The official reason was:
“Unfortunately we have to inform you [the fans] that Helge, Manu and Equilibrium will go their separate ways for personal reasons. We parted for the better and wish you all the best for your future. We had really great moments with them on stage! However, this has no effect on the music of Equilibrium. The songs will continue to be composed by René Berthiaume, as always. "
Although it was announced that all announced gigs would take place, some, including the Winterfire Festival, had to be canceled because a new singer and drummer could not be found quickly enough, or the new musicians could not play / sing all of the songs.
Robert "Robse" Dahn, who is also a singer in the Frankfurt band Vrankenvorde , was introduced as the new singer on March 2nd and 4th . Dahn was a long-time friend of Berthiaume and was originally supposed to be a singer in one of his side projects. The new drummer was Tuval 'Hati' Refaeli from Israel , who is also active in the Israeli brutal death metal band Viscera Trail . Since the drum tracks of the songs were recorded by Manuel Di Camillo before the separation, Hati Rafaeli only participated in the video clip. For Robse Dahn, however, the album is the first release of the band in which he sings.
A cover artwork contest was held for the single Die Affeninsel , in which fans were invited to design a cover . For the winner Tobias Watzl there was a hand-signed version of the single and the back banner, which Equilibrium had used as stage decoration in recent years. On June 11, 2010, Equilibrium made the new album available for listening in full on Myspace and took it out a week later, on June 18, when the album went on sale.
Track list
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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All songs were composed by René Berthiaume, all texts by Andreas Völkl.
| # | title | length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | In sacred halls | 6:11 |
| 2 | The Eternal Victory | 4:16 |
| 3 | Burned earth | 5:43 |
| 4th | The monkey island | 5:08 |
| 5 | The Waterman | 6:32 |
| 6th | A long time ago | 9:21 |
| 7th | Airstream | 4:49 |
| 8th | When the ground breaks | 6:59 |
| 9 | Short epic (instrumental) | 13:02 |
| # | Title (all acoustic) | length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Eternal Victory | 4:18 |
| 2 | after winter | 4:11 |
| 3 | blood in the eye | 4:43 |
| 4th | The Prophecy | 5:09 |
| 5 | Homeward | 2:32 |
Contents of the songs
- In holy halls is about a people who guard a treasure in tunnels and have to defend it against the attackers in the upcoming battle.
- Eternal victory is about the renewal process in nature and in people at the turn of the year. According to Berthiaume, it therefore also represents a connection to the album title.
- " Scorched Earth is about the deployment of an army before the first waves of attack, about an unbroken will to win and determination to victoriously fight the upcoming battle despite previous setbacks."
- " The Monkey Island is about an adventure in a warm country far from here, in which [a pirate] has to pass three tests in order to fulfill an acceptance rite," says copywriter Andreas Völkl. He was inspired for the text by the beginning of the adventure game The Secret of Monkey Island .
- Aquarius is about a vicious Aquarius who pulls careless people into "his" pond and locks their souls in vessels there. He has a close friendship with a farmer who lives not far from the pond, so that one day he will be allowed into Aquarius' underwater house. Angry and horrified at the cruelty of Aquarius, the farmer breaks into the underwater house a few days later when Aquarius is on the "soul hunt" and frees the bound souls. Thereupon the Aquarius swears “sinister revenge”.
- From a distant time tells of a very wise woman made of fire, who rested for a long time in the earth and came to “show people the way”. Musically this piece represents a kind of medley , which takes up excerpts from older songs of the band.
- Fahrtwind reports of a group of travelers who drive away from their house on a "cracking, booming, groaning and squeaking" car and asking other hikers to come along. The destination of the trip is not apparent.
- When Erdreich breaks is about a cruel king "in the lands of Perchtas " who goes hunting with his wife and seven children. An old woman, her grandson and several other adults are willfully killed by his horses and hunting dogs . As she dies, the woman curses the king, whereupon the earth rips open and the royal family is petrified by the rising lava masses .
- Short epic - instrumental
style
music
The songs are mainly dominated by classical and folk melodies, which often resemble the large, bombastic orchestral arrangements by Hans Zimmer . The melody-leading instrument is therefore almost exclusively the keyboard, while the guitars only have an accompanying function. The drumming is characterized by blastbeats and double bass rhythms, occasionally there are also humppa elements, which are no longer as present, for example on Turis Fratyr . All of the instruments on the album were recorded by the musicians themselves, and no triggers were used. The vocals change from deep growling to high screaming , there are hardly any intermediate stages. At the end of Wenn Erdreich breaks and in Kurzes Epos , Gabi Koss sings some passages, who has also been a guest singer on Turis Fratyr.
The band's sole composer is René Berthiaume, who often experimented with key changes and gave the songs a deeper dimension through sophisticated melodies and moods. In addition to neoclassical influences in almost all of the songs, Berthiaume takes up exotic elements of calypsos in Die Affeninsel , in The Aquarius he uses elements of Asian folk music . The album also shows influences from Latin American music and Irish folk . Due to the different influences, recreation does not fit into any of the established genres. In addition to Pagan Metal and Melodic Death Metal , the album can partly be assigned to Symphonic Metal , Folk Metal and Neoclassical Metal and, at least with reference to the song Wenn Erdreich breaks , also Melodic Black Metal .
Texts
"Every song on the album has its own story [...]", says Berthiaume. Andreas Völkl, who wrote all the lyrics, put this into more concrete terms: “We sometimes referred to old sagas, but also thought up our own stories, or we wrote them independently of explicit sagas. There are profound and freely interpretable texts as well as a few swipes at the early Equi [librium] years and our development. [...] "
While some texts provide information about the content very obviously, others are more demanding and more difficult for the listener to understand, as the lyrical ego remains undefined and numerous rhetorical means have been introduced into the texts.
The texts are all written in German and often show strong similarities to Knittel verse . Most of the verses end with a pair of rhymes , some end with no recognizable rhyme or only an impure rhyme . Occasionally there are also cross rhymes or embracing rhymes . In order to harmonize with the rhythm of the music, a large number of apostrophes and ellipses appear in almost all texts .
Cover
The cover shows a Wolpertinger sitting on a rock at night. This represents the diversity of the band and their associated influences from "different directions, be it Asian, Irish or Caribbean". On the right in the middle distance you can see a lake into which some waterfalls flow. In the left middle distance you can see two large conifers standing in front of a forest that extends over the left part of the background. In the right and upper area of the background there is a night sky with a moon, as well as three bird siluettes. The cover and the booklet were designed and designed by the Venezuelan Alev , who also designed the undefeated t-shirt.
Music video
| Movie | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Original title | The Eternal Victory | ||
| Country of production | Germany | ||
| original language | German | ||
| Publishing year | 2010 | ||
| length | 4:32 minutes | ||
| Rod | |||
| Director | Florian Puchert | ||
| script | Florian Puchert, Equilibrium | ||
| production | Toby Bräuhauser | ||
| music | Equilibrium | ||
| camera | Axel Koenig | ||
| cut | Wolfgang Weigel | ||
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| chronology | |||
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A music video in HD quality was shot for The Eternal Victory . The direction was directed by Florian Puchert, a long-time friend of the band, for whose films René Berthiaume had already composed several songs. Toby Bräuhauser from the Piratenfilm film company took on the production, and his colleague Wolfgang Weigl edited the film . The cameraman was Axel König from the film company Moviekombinat . In contrast to the video clip about Blood in the Eye (from the Sagas album ), this one did not use digital effects in order to make the video appear more natural and realistic. The video was released on June 16, 2010 on Myspace and YouTube .
René Berthiaume commented on the video shoot as follows:
“We are very proud of our new video. This time, in stark contrast to our last video, we completely dispensed with digital effects, everything was filmed in real life, as you can see it. Florian Puchert and his team really did a great job and we had a great time working in the beautiful mountains of Bavaria. Not least because of the innkeeper who provided us with plenty of schnapps! "
action
At the beginning of the video, the band members crawl out of a narrow cave one by one. In the following they climb, also individually, a very steep, wet and partly snow-covered mountain. This symbolizes the renewal process of the human being addressed in the song (from the very bottom to the top). These nature scenes are interrupted again and again by longer scenes that show the band in the film studio during a "live performance". The musicians are shown there both individually in close-ups and together in a medium-long shot . In the interlude, panoramic scenes of the snow- and fog-covered Alps are shown again and again. The concept of the live scenes with interruptions by the hiking scenes continues in the further course of the video, until Robse Dahn finally reaches the mountain first and shortly afterwards the other band members arrive. From a small plateau, they finally look together into the valley and thus at the path covered. This illustrates the completion of the renewal. The video clip ends with the brilliant outro of the song.
criticism
Overall, the reviews of recreation are very different. Almost everywhere, like on the previous albums, the unusual and varied atmospheric and epic compositions are praised, which seem more thought-out and "adult" when recreated. The critics are unclear about Robse Dahn's singing. On the one hand, it is highly praised, in the eyes of other critics, however, it is considered the album's major weak point, as in their opinion it often does not harmonize with the highly melodic songs, does not set any accents and is almost entirely incomprehensible. According to musikreviews.de, this represents a waste of the opportunity to use the special charm that could result from using the German language. In addition, the singing levels out the songs, since it pushes back the actual melodies through its one-dimensionality. On the other hand, the “grandiose” instrumental outro with the ironic title Kurzes Epos is mostly praised , as it is arranged in an entertaining, exciting and varied manner, which is not least due to the omission of male vocals. The good production of the album is also rated positively, which would clearly stand out from Turis Fratyr and Sagas .
musikreviews.de therefore rated the album with 9 out of 15 points and came to the conclusion:
“Equilibrium combine classic, dramatic film soundtracks as well as folk and pagan metal into a gripping, thrilling mixture, at least musically. But because of the sometimes really disturbing vocals there is a clear point deduction, more variety and accents would have been necessary here, but above all simply better intelligibility. Personally, “Rekreatur” also contains a few of the fast party numbers too many. The worn and epic side of the band is a little too short for my taste with songs like “Verbrannte Erde” and “Wenn Erdreich Bricht”.
Another rather bad review comes from metal.de , where the album was only rated 6 out of 10 points:
“[…] Equilibrium [try] to make the tracks varied, play skillfully with rhythm and tempo changes and let each piece tell its own story, but their idiosyncratic style, especially the synths that drown out everything, make it almost impossible to give the songs their own character, which in my opinion makes “Rekreatur” boring quickly. The almost desperate attempt to vary the tracks a lot unfortunately even leads to the fact that the album as a whole cannot develop any effect, but only looks like a fragmented series of individual songs. In addition, Equilibrium have developed further since “Sagas” and show new facets of their music, but are already beginning to repeat themselves, so some riffs, song structures or arrangements seem more than familiar to me. Still, “Rekreatur” is not a bad album overall and will definitely delight fans of the combo. It is certainly not a masterpiece, however, the tracks are too predictable for that and no song stands out from the others. "
The criticism from metalnews.de is completely different. The webzine rates Rekreatur with 7 out of 7 points and writes:
"[...] the change of singer [is] not a big problem for the band. On the contrary, Equilibrium seem to be in the shape of their lives. A little more punchy and playful than before, the band is getting ready to take the world firmly in their grip. In any case, the album offers everything a fan heart could desire. Old fans should be satisfied and new ones should be drawn ashore. In the end it is an all-round perfect thing that represents "recreation". "
Also powermetal.de praised the album, awards 9 out of 10 and commented:
“Exuberant, emotional, overwhelming, psychedelic, fat, loud, changeable and predestined to go off - the classic EQUI speed trip. Compared to "Sagas", the more mature compositions are a real increase and show that EQUILIBRIUM are far from over. No, it almost seems as if a new decade is dawning that will take the band even further. [...] "
A neutral criticism comes from vampster.com :
“Previous fans of the quintet will consequently also have fun with the newly formed EQUILIBRIUM. Between Turisas and Akrea , "Rekreatur" has a few hits ready, as well as a handful of typical compositions from the Folk Metal construction kit. Exactly the right thing for the shallow conversation at the next metal party, but you are still looking for depth and courage elsewhere. "
Web links
- Official website of the band
- Lyrics of the album
- Video clip for "The Eternal Victory" on YouTube
- Deviantart Profile of the cover designer Alev
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dark Lord: Equilibrium - separation of singer & drummer . stormbringer.at. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
- ↑ reini: Equilibrium - introduce new singer! . stormbringer.at. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
- ↑ Dark Lord: EQUILIBRIUM - announce new drummer . stormbringer.at. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
- ↑ a b c Steelbound: Interview about the new album with Andreas Vökl . stormbringer.at. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
- ↑ a b c d e René Berthiaume: Blog entries on MySpace . myspace.com. Archived from the original on June 2, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
- ↑ Chart tracking recreation. ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. musicline.de; Retrieved July 3, 2010
- ↑ Recreation in the Austrian charts. austriancharts.at; Retrieved July 3, 2010
- ↑ Recreation in the Swiss charts. swisscharts.com; Retrieved July 3, 2010
- ↑ a b c Dark Lord: Equilibrium - ‚Rekreatur 'new song online! . stormbringer.at. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
- ^ Julian Rohrer: Equilibrium: Listening session for the new album "ReKreatur" . powermetal.de. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
- ↑ Lyrics of the song Fahrtwind
- ↑ Lyrics of the song When Erdreich breaks
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Daniel Fischer: Equilibrium: Rekreatur (Review) . musikreviews.de. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Julian Rohrer: A "short" epic in a stormy time . powermetal.de. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Fafnir: Interview with Sandra Völkl . musik.terrorverlag.de. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
- ↑ a b c Schaffi: EQUILIBRIUM: Recreature . vampster.com. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ↑ Rekreatur Album Trailer 2 on Youtube, accessed on July 4, 2010
- ^ A b c Albert Ranner: Equilibrium - Recreature . cdstarts.de. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ↑ Booklet of the album
- ↑ Official music video for "The Eternal Victory". Retrieved July 3, 2010
- ↑ René Berthiaume: Equilibrium - “The Eternal Victory” video premieres today! . myspace.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
- ↑ a b c d Frank-Christian Mehlmann: Equilibrium - Recreature . metalnews.de. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
- ↑ micha: Equilibrium - Recreature 2010 . radio-meanvaration.de. Retrieved on July 4, 2010. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Olaf: Equilibrium - Rekreatur . pommesgabel.de. Archived from the original on July 1, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ The Wendigo: Equilibrium - Recreature . whiskey-soda.de. Archived from the original on June 24, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
- ↑ Katharina Beck: Equilibrium - Recreature Review . metal.de. Retrieved July 6, 2010.
