They were almost dead to me after the last shitshow of an album, but I guess this is the final straw, wouldn't even bother attending their shows anymore. Sad to see the decline of one my favourite bands

Actually, I'm kinda glad he got kicked out.

"Rekreatur", "Waldschrein" & "Erdentempel" were still great, but the style changed to much with "Armageddon"... this album was still okay, but the follow-up "Renegades" was terrible.

Written by Taravilyaion on 11.10.2022 at 12:31

Actually, I'm kinda glad he got kicked out.

"Rekreatur", "Waldschrein" & "Erdentempel" were still great, but the style changed to much with "Armageddon"... this album was still okay, but the follow-up "Renegades" was terrible.

I agree, latest album was horrible, first 3 +1are their best, after that it's zero

Written by Taravilyaion on 11.10.2022 at 12:31

Actually, I'm kinda glad he got kicked out.

"Rekreatur", "Waldschrein" & "Erdentempel" were still great, but the style changed to much with "Armageddon"... this album was still okay, but the follow-up "Renegades" was terrible.

Hmm, but the pathetic shit that was the last album would be more René's fault than Robse's I guess no ? I would hope Robse finds another Bavarian folk metal band to sing in, but they all seem on the decline, last Nothgard and Wolfchant weren't very good.

Written by Liafev on 11.10.2022 at 13:49

Hmm, but the pathetic shit that was the last album would be more René's fault than Robse's I guess no? (1)

I would hope Robse finds another Bavarian folk metal band to sing in, but they all seem on the decline, last Nothgard and Wolfchant weren't very good. (2)

1. I don't know, maybe both? Maybe that's why Helge, Manu and Sandra left too.
2. Finsterforst is still reigning though.

Written by Taravilyaion on 12.10.2022 at 03:38

1. I don't know, maybe both? Maybe that's why Helge, Manu and Sandra left too.
2. Finsterforst is still reigning though.

1. Yeah that's true. I guess we'll find out with the next Equilibrium album
2. Oh yeah, Finsterforst slays for sure!

Written by Taravilyaion on 12.10.2022 at 03:38

Written by Liafev on 11.10.2022 at 13:49

Hmm, but the pathetic shit that was the last album would be more René's fault than Robse's I guess no? (1)

I would hope Robse finds another Bavarian folk metal band to sing in, but they all seem on the decline, last Nothgard and Wolfchant weren't very good. (2)

1. I don't know, maybe both? Maybe that's why Helge, Manu and Sandra left too.
2. Finsterforst is still reigning though.

Dont forget Sandra's brother Andreas also left. If I am right René wrote (except a few) and writes all the songs alone in the band.
Which is also a big question for me - what is Skadi doing in the band? Never seen her at any shows or live appearances and she is not part of the recording process.

Written by Sentenced Odiin on 12.10.2022 at 12:55


Dont forget Sandra's brother Andreas also left. If I am right René wrote (except a few) and writes all the songs alone in the band.
Which is also a big question for me - what is Skadi doing in the band? Never seen her at any shows or live appearances and she is not part of the recording process.

Yes, I forgot about him.

As for Skadi...
"Never seen her at any shows or live appearances and she is not part of the recording process."

Well, I don't know anything about the band's recording process, but I know she joined for the Renegades album.
I do not know if the band even had a "Renegades" tour with the whole cancelling of concerts due to the covid-bullshit.
But even if they had a couple of live performances before the whole 'pandemic' broke out I did not want to see them anyway because of their piece of crap album anyway.

Written by Sentenced Odiin on 12.10.2022 at 12:55

Written by Taravilyaion on 12.10.2022 at 03:38

Written by Liafev on 11.10.2022 at 13:49

Hmm, but the pathetic shit that was the last album would be more René's fault than Robse's I guess no? (1)

I would hope Robse finds another Bavarian folk metal band to sing in, but they all seem on the decline, last Nothgard and Wolfchant weren't very good. (2)

1. I don't know, maybe both? Maybe that's why Helge, Manu and Sandra left too.
2. Finsterforst is still reigning though.

Dont forget Sandra's brother Andreas also left. If I am right René wrote (except a few) and writes all the songs alone in the band.
Which is also a big question for me - what is Skadi doing in the band? Never seen her at any shows or live appearances and she is not part of the recording process.

Skadi is Rene's girlfriend. She has created the artwork on Erdentempel and Armageddon. She is supposedly playing keys on Renegades but yeah.. If Equilibrium has become Rene and family, I understand why most people left over the years.
I also hope that he understands that he needs to go back to folk metal and forget the experimentation. I did not hate Renegades but it is my least favorite album of Equilibrium for sure. And i did like a lot the albums with Robse, especially Erdentempel and Armageddon.

Written by Taravilyaion on 12.10.2022 at 15:05

Written by Sentenced Odiin on 12.10.2022 at 12:55


Dont forget Sandra's brother Andreas also left. If I am right René wrote (except a few) and writes all the songs alone in the band.
Which is also a big question for me - what is Skadi doing in the band? Never seen her at any shows or live appearances and she is not part of the recording process.

Yes, I forgot about him.

As for Skadi...
"Never seen her at any shows or live appearances and she is not part of the recording process."

Well, I don't know anything about the band's recording process, but I know she joined for the Renegades album.
I do not know if the band even had a "Renegades" tour with the whole cancelling of concerts due to the covid-bullshit.
But even if they had a couple of live performances before the whole 'pandemic' broke out I did not want to see them anyway because of their piece of crap album anyway.

According to old studio diaries, René is the one who plays up all keyboards as he wrotes them - pretty logical. So she is no studio musician either, but I have found an official statement from René: "Skadi has been one of the driving forces behind Equilibrium for many years now. She has mainly been responsible for artwork, designs, creative input and will now support us live on the synths in a few months’ time. "

On the other hand concerning the pandemic, I was even at a Budapest show in January 2020 (it was also hard for me to push myself to see them after Renegades) and there was no sign of Skadi. Or if you check any live performaces from the recent years she is not there with them. She is not even in the video for One Folk. Main factor will be that she is the girlfriend of René, so he put her into the band just for that reason. Her artworks are great, have to admit, expect the Renegades album cover and the new logo.

Found this on FB: https://fb.watch/g7LCvHm4Za/

Lmao haha

I have been a big fan of Renes work. To some or all the points (Im doing all this from memory so sorry for minor or major mistakes):

- Tbh if I were to guess, Rene and Skadi broke up some time ago or just kinda separated idk... Skadi has her own music project now (Cleo Tiger) and the art for Revolution (single? idk, I don't remember the song at all) was done by someone else... At the same time, Rene still apparently works on her clips... idk, who knows. Never seen her live either.
Anyway she was doing arts for everything from Waldschrein (that's when skulls and other kitschy shite started appearing on everything lol). I hate skulls in metal. Also they worked together on later videos for the band.

- Yes, Rene does all the music, arrangements (reportedly he did drums with Manu, maybe with Hati too?), mixing and was doing mastering until Waldschrein too. To me, that's where the sound got really mainstream and overproduced... Rekreatur was the last blast, very unique in the delivery, at least for me. Also, sorry for the rant, but I think you can very clearly hear where Manuel got replaced by Hati (Manu did drums for Rekreatur before leaving), the style shifts quite singificantly, drums get dumbed down a lot, Manu did a lot of tom hits in fills, which added to the folky feeling.
The lyrics were mostly written by Helge and Andi, now I suppose Rene does them.

- Helge was let go in 2010 which Andi described in one interview (it was one of those in 2013 where they were in a pool, on Nuclear blast channel) as his style deviating from theirs a lot. We can only speculate but a moment after that Manu left too and they both made a band (Wolves Den), which seems to be quite regular black metal... He also did an album for Arafel, quite a good band too.
Idk why Andi and Sandra left. Well, I think Sandra had a wedding not long before that so maybe a child? Andi maybe just followed as it was an opportunity for a change? Neither plays in any band for all I know.
Sandra and Helge were not so long ago special guests (separately), so the tension, if there ever was any, is probably gone.

Written by Liafev on 11.10.2022 at 13:49
Hmm, but the pathetic shit that was the last album would be more René's fault than Robse's I guess no ? I would hope Robse finds another Bavarian folk metal band to sing in, but they all seem on the decline, last Nothgard and Wolfchant weren't very good.

- It would be Rene's fault but at the same time, it probably has to be seen just as a change of heart. I am personally glad that just like my taste changes and evolves, so do the bands albeit in a different direction than I. That being said, I think Renegades just didn't know what it wanted to be so it tried everything at once and it didn't work out.
And tbh Robse was quite obsolete on that album. They have a musician that does clean, harsh vox and plays guitar (Dom), so Robse maybe just wasn't bringing anything to the table anymore?
At the same time I think the chemistry between Robse and Rene was quite extraordinary... I guess it's just a step in a direction Robse might not have wanted to make or maybe Rene wants to move away from harsh vocals in German altogether. Or maybe, since Robse was a jolly drunkard (and Rene a teetotaler), Rene might just want to focus more on the serious message the band can spread? Speculations, speculations...

- Finsterforst is fire, I love it. Only it seems every song is completely the same (epic intro -> floor tom and timpani *boom* -> no folk, only guitar riff -> first verse -> slowly adding choirs and strings -> accordion melody...) Which is not to say nowadays' Equilibrium isn't similar. That's just regular song structure (which it didn't use to be!) from start to end. ^^