Review Discography Equinox (Florida, USA)

This time I would like to introduce you to a band that unfortunately never received the attention it deserved and which has long since been shrouded in a gray veil of oblivion. In order to revive the band a little, so to speak, I'd like to do my bit: I'm talking about the US-American Equinox (not to be confused with numerous other metal bands worldwide as well as in the USA with the same name) from sunny Florida, who play great and not quite so US-typical death/black metal, although I would assign the band mainly to the first mentioned subgenre. But more on that later. Over the course of the band's history from 1992-2009, they released two demos, a 7" single, two albums and an EP, featuring musicians who were or are known from such illustrious names as Acheron, Incubus, the Incubus successor band Opprobrium, Possessed, Massacre, Diabolic, Angelcorpse, Amon and Druid Lord. 

At this point, I will limit myself to the two albums and the EP. So let's start with the 1996 debut album "Return to Mystery", which was released on CD by the long-defunct Greek cult label Unisound and re-released on CD and vinyl in 2024 by Dutch Vic Records with a completely new cover artwork that many people consider to be better than the original one. The almost 48-minute album, which consists of nine tracks, begins with ominously dark synthesizer sounds before brute riffs and throaty, screeching vocals kick in. It is maybe these vocals that are responsible as well for the categorization as black metal, and both this and other tracks feature very atmospheric mid-tempo parts accompanied by dark synthesizer sounds in  best Rotting Christ style. In general, the band always varies very well with different tempos, so that the album is highly dynamic. 

The ominously sluggish, doomy parts in particular make the inclined listener think of Acheron, but also of the forefathers Celtic Frost, old Samael and Alastis or even the good old Obituary at one point or another, especially as vocalist Matt Wagner can certainly compete with Obituary singer John Tardy when it comes to special accents and aspects. The special thing about Equinox is that groovy mid-tempo parts are, as mentioned before, followed by fast black metallic high-speed passages, which represents a certain unique selling point, but still always seems to come from the same mold. But melodic elements are also used very atmospherically and appropriately to accentuate the music. All in all, “Return to Mystery” is a small masterpiece that was already recognized by far too few potential listeners at the time.

But now let's go to the next work, namely the 2003 album “Journey into Oblivion”, released on CD by the Polish Still Dead Productions label. This label, which no longer exists today and is unknown to me and which only released the works of a handful of bands, may also explain why this album and the band as a whole were never able to emerge from the deepest underground in terms of fame. Who knows what Equinox would have been capable of with a strong, financially strong label behind them? Well, many bands have had this experience, so let's move on to the music on the album, which was also re-released on CD and LP by Vic Records in 2024, this time with the atmospheric original artwork that perfectly visualizes the album title. 

After the obligatory intro, the 10-track (with intro 11 pieces) 54-minute album starts with “Invasions of the angry dead” with an outstanding groovy introduction, in the best Celtic Frost manner, a track that is sure to get the crowd going live. Shortly afterwards, however, the band switches into high-speed territory  so that the black metal influence is also retained here, and skillfully varies the tempo throughout the rest of the track. Overall, there is not too much of a stylistic difference between the debut album and “Journey into Oblivion”, even if the debut sounds a little more mystical and mysterious, but the second album once again very rarely features the midtempo-driven passages underpinned by atmospheric synthesizer carpets that made Greek black metal so popular in the metal scene worldwide. Finally, the album ends with a cover of Possessed's “Seance”. Another great piece of work, which, especially in the slower parts, makes you think of the American Usurper or the Dutch Pentacle, really not bad references!

 

The band's last release, apart from compilations of previously released tracks and live recordings, was the “The immortal kind” EP from 2006, released as a CD on American Metabolic Records. The EP comprises six tracks with a running time of just under 27 minutes and unfortunately cannot keep up with the quality of the two previous albums, which in my opinion is also due to the fact that a certain stylistic reorientation has been undertaken, but this does not suit the band well. 

It remains to be seen to what extent this change was caused by two new band members on guitar and drums, but in any case the sound has become a lot more symphonic, keyboard-driven and melodic, which in this case is not really convincing, especially as Equinox's unique selling point has disappeared. It almost seems as if the band had retrospectively realized the success of bands like Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir and desperately tried to integrate more symphonic and melodic elements into their sound. The songs don't seem to come from the same mold and remain piecemeal, even the sluggish doomy death metal passages as well as faster outbursts are often not good, sometimes seeming contrived, especially since, as already mentioned, the transitions are no longer fluid in contrast to earlier releases. So you can only attest this EP absolute mediocrity, because hardly anything sticks in your ear and you have forgotten the songs shortly after listening, because they sound so arbitrary and replaceable.

All in all, it can be said that Equinox created two albums that were outstanding and occupied their own niche with their innovative mixture of old, sluggish doomy death metal and fast black metal. Perhaps this stylistic diversity alongside small labels was one of the reasons why the band never became better known, because this "sitting between all chairs" is sometimes a problem, possibly even more so at the end of the 90s, when death and black metal in particular were already or still very divided musically and ideologically. Unfortunately, the Equinox chapter ended with a mediocre EP, on Facebook the band still wrote in 2024 on the occasion of the re-releases of the albums via Vic Records, possibly not quite seriously meant, whether they should create new music again. If it should go in the direction of the albums, then by all means, please!