Sagas is an 80 minute epic that display several different genres. Some songs are intense battle metal with thick guitars and an angry black metal attitude. Others have a lot of grand symphonic elements. A few combine thrash guitars with a movie soundtrack feel. You'll also hear traditional folk metal that's a bit mellower with flutes and instruments of that ilk. The album has a lot of ebbs and flows. Fast and aggressive songs are tempered by slower sections or mellow instrumentals.
Helge Stang is Equilibrium's vocalist, and he has a raspy style. His delivery isn't the happy drinking song type of folk metal. It's a lot more intense and edgy, more in the vein of black or death metal. The lyrics on the CD are all in the band's native German.
Sagas is very diverse, and should appeal to fans of groups such as Korpiklaani, Ensiferum, Turisas and Finntroll. You'll hear elements of all those groups in Equilibrium's sound, but they have a vibe all their own. 80 minutes might be a bit long, and the CD ends with a 16 plus minute epic that is somewhat self-indulgent, but it's still highly recommended for folk/pagan/Viking metal fans.
(released July 8, 2008 on Nuclear Blast Records)
