Waldschrein

The German epic folk metal act Equilibrium decided to treat us with an EP, in order to keep the awaiting fans occupied until the new album is released next year. Wait, did I just say ''treat''? After listening to the new offering of the Bavarians I will have to revise that a little.

What we get are 5 songs and 20 minutes of music: a brand new track, one re-recorded piece from the bands debut album, an old demo song which after 12 years of Equilibriums existence has finally been put together, an interpretation of a video game melody and an acoustic version of the mentioned one and only brand new track presented on ''Waldschrein''.
To be perfectly honest with you - save your money, find another way to get a listen. The only worthwhile thing here is the new song ''Waldschrein''. It's a pretty satisfying, fast-paced track with a cool melody and that typical Equilibriums style of folk metal that can't be mistaken. It is this effort that is primarily supposed to serve as an appetizer for the upcoming full-length. And boy, they did a good job awakening the appetite. If the album will be as decent as the track ''Waldschrein'', then we're in for a treat. As far as the here and now is concerned though - it's all downhill after the opening track on this EP. ''Der Sturm 2013'' is inferior to the original in nearly every department, I completely cannot dig ''Zwergenhammer'' (kind of boring really) and the two instrumentals are good, respectively decent but nothing more than mere filler.

Short EP, so let's conclude the review: to rate this album I decided to split it in two parts. Part one consists of the song ''Waldschrein'' which becomes 90% in my book; part two consists of the rest sitting at 30%

90 + 30 = 120
120 / 2 = 60

And that is also my final score for this offering - 60% I do have high expectations concerning the upcoming fourth LP though. After the vastly mediocre "ReKreatur" it's about time to step it up a bit again for this German quintet.