19th June 2019

Under The Influence #3: Grimgotts on “Erdentempel” by Equilibrium!

When founding members exit a band it’s a transition time for fans who simply don’t know what the future will hold for their favourite artists. It’s hard to tell what each band member brings to the table in a collective and a band should always be greater than the sum of it’s parts. So when the founders of German Folk Metallers Equilibrium who also happen to be siblings in Andreas Völkl and Sandra Van Eldik exited the band back in 2014 after 13 years, it was left to René Berthiaume to hold things together. For “Erdentempel” he stepped up and recorded all the instrumental elements (guitars, keyboard, clean vocals, production, bass, drums) himself, leaving Robert “Robse” Dahn to handle the vocals. The result, is the bands 4th studio album, recorded at Helion Studios and released by Nuclear Blast, happens to be one that Grimgotts cite as an influence!

Grimgotts vocalist Andy Barton: “Personally, I’m a huge Equilibrium fan, and I’ve attempted to approach my song writing in the same manner in which I believe they approach theirs. Primarily, this entails ensuring that the melodies are both beautiful, epic and intensely memorable. The songs on their fourth album, Erdentempel, also demonstrates their ability to fuse heaviness and speed alongside the amazing melodies. Further to this, the music seems to tell a story, which is remarkable considering that the lyrics are in German and I have no idea what they’re saying. The band also made use of some clean vocals on Erdentempel, which adds further depth to the album. Of course, Grimgotts are a different genre to Equilibrium, and we aim to evoke memorable music through our powerful choruses. Essentially, I wanted to create an album similar in ilk to Erdentempel, but with the added ingredients of Power Metal to try and create our own unique sound!”