Sagas (album)
| Sagas | ||||
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| Studio album by Equilibrium | ||||
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Publication |
2008 |
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| Label (s) | Nuclear Blast | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP |
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Title (number) |
13 |
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running time |
79 min 16 s |
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Studio (s) |
Helion Studios ( Munich ) |
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Sagas is the second studio album by the German pagan metal band Equilibrium . It was released on June 27, 2008 under the German record label Nuclear Blast .
History of origin
In mid-October 2006 the band signed a contract with the German music label Nuclear Blast and went to work for Sagas . The original publication was planned for spring 2007, but this was only postponed to autumn 2007 and later to early summer 2008 for technical and time reasons.
According to official information, recordings and studio work did not begin until July 2007 . Out of love for detail and perfectionism of guitarist and producer René Berthiaume, the work dragged on until spring 2008. On June 27, 2008 the album was released worldwide under Nuclear Blast.
background
Lyrics
In contrast to the previous album Turis Fratyr, there are no textual references to Norse mythology on Sagas . The songs, which are all in German , deal with everyday topics, as Berthiaume confirms: "The stories that Helge writes take place everywhere and are not directly related to Nordic mythology."
Booklet
Due to a misprint , the booklet was printed too dark for the digipack , which is why various passages of text can hardly be deciphered. For this reason the band put the complete booklet online on their official homepage shortly after the album was released .
The cover was designed by Benjamin König. The manuscripts in the booklet for greetings and credits were written by Sandra Völkl. The cover and booklet artwork was designed by Helge Stang.
Music genre
The style includes features from Epic Metal to Folk Metal to Black Metal or Power Metal . The band itself calls their style of music Epic Metal . Frontman René Berthiaume described the folk influences of the album as follows in an interview with Legacy magazine :
“[...] On Sagas, we don't limit ourselves to traditional folklore, which is meanwhile consumed by every second 08/15 Metal band, but also take a look at distant continents. The monumental film music continues to provide important impulses for our sound. "
In his review in Rock Hard , the editor “Bruder Cle” described the style of music as “bombastic Pagan Black Metal with many memorable keyboard melodies and German lyrics” and commented that the band was “perfectly in tune with the metallic zeitgeist”.
In his review of the album, Jens Pohl emphasizes that the majority of the music on “Sagas” is in the notch of the song “Met” from the previous album, which is no wonder given the success of similar bands such as Korpiklaani , Finntroll or Alestorm . However, this was rated as a negative point of criticism:
"This impression expresses itself extremely in the unusually light-footed Caribbean rhythm [...] and the often played pan flute sequences, which were still used with care on" Turis Fratyr ", but here in many places simply overstrained: so reminds" Undefeated " for example more of Kaoma's " Lambada " than of a warlike army of Vikings [...]. The flair of soundtrack titles from Lucasfilm Games ' " Monkey Island " [...], which arises in some places, also leaves astonishment and anything but euphoria. "
Duration
The instrumental piece Mana was originally composed by Berthiaume with a duration of over 18 minutes. In order to be able to publish the album in one piece, according to the label's recommendations, Mana was shortened by about two minutes.
successes
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Sagas reached the 30th place in the German album charts and was able to assert itself in these 3 weeks. In Switzerland , too, Sagas was barely in the top 100 , in 99th place.
Metal hammer journalist Birger Treimer writes about the new album:
“Equilibrium know how to create atmosphere and that an album can last over 80 minutes at an extremely high level without being boring. And that is extremely rare. The three years of creating Sagas are more than paying off, because Equilibrium outdo themselves. "
At Webzine metal.de, however, the album was rated as a slight disappointment compared to its predecessor:
“Equilibrium [...] are just as powerful and clear on Sagas as they were on Turis Fratyr before , but as a whole it seems much more spontaneous and majestic. - 'Cinematic', 'epic' and 'bombastic' are catchphrases that apply to sagas as well as adjectives of the type 'ridiculous' or 'annoying', which are summarized in the almost eighteen-minute instrumental 'Mana' at the end of the album Vomiting to be repeated. Ultimately, Sagas is not a failure […], but on the other hand, this long player is not what you might have expected after a three-year wait - sometimes less is more. "
scope
Versions
The album was also released as a limited digipack with softcover and bonus DVD , as well as a double LP and mailorder edition (in a tin box, with patch and certificate, limited to 500 copies).
Track list
- Prologue on Earth - 3:39
- Wurzelbert - 4:59
- Blood in the eye - 4:45
- Undefeated - 6:19
- Treason - 6:05
- Snuffel - 5:45
- Homeward - 2:34
- Heather smoke - 2:31
- The pasture and the river - 7:21
- The singer's curse - 8:05
- Shout to the Wind - 4:54
- Dawn - 5:55
- Mana - 16:23
Heimwärts was written by René Berthiaume, Sandra and Andreas Völkl, the rest of the songs were written and arranged by René Berthiaume alone . The texts are from Helge Stang.
The two pieces Heiderauche and Mana are exclusively instrumental.
Guest musician
- Kurt Angerpower - guitar
- Ulrich Herkenhoff - pan flute
- Muki Seiler - accordion
- Agnes Malich - violin ( Augsburg Philharmonic Orchestra )
- Toni González (vocals) and his band Karlahan (folk metal band from Spain )
- Gaby Koss - vocals
- Jörg Sieber - Photos
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b whiskey-soda.de: Interview with Helge Stang ( Memento of the original from July 31, 2008 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. , accessed August 6, 2008
- ↑ metal-hammer.de: Interview with René Berthiaume ( Memento of the original from August 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed August 6, 2008
- ↑ Désirée Kiel: Equilibrium Interview Schlamm, Alk und Gummisemmeln , in: Pagan Fire - The Legacy Chronicles I (special issue), Devil.Inc, Saarbrücken 2007, p. 20.
- ↑ Rock Hard # 254: Review of the album , accessed March 17, 2011
- ↑ a b metal.de: Review of “Sagas” , accessed on January 12, 2009
- ↑ officialcharts.de: Chart tracking Sagas , accessed on August 6, 2008
- ↑ a b hitparade.ch: Sagas in the Swiss hit parade , accessed on August 6, 2008
- ↑ metalhammer.de: Sagas Review ( Memento of the original from July 22, 2008 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. , accessed August 6, 2008
- ↑ nuclearblast.de: EQUILIBRIUM - storm the German charts at number 30! , accessed August 6, 2008
- ↑ myspace.com: KARLAHAN AS GUEST BAND IN EQUILIBRIUM’S , accessed August 7, 2008
- ↑ equilibrium-metal.de: Sagas Booklet, page 10 , accessed on August 7, 2008
- ↑ nuclearblast.de: EQUILIBRIUM - new album and tour , accessed on August 6, 2008
