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. 

INTERVIEW REXUL

Rexul hailing from Gummersbach in the Bergisches Land region, Germany, recently released a strong debut album (read the review HERE )that should convince every fan of sophisticated death metal with its great mixture of brutality and atmosphere.

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Hello, please introduce Rexul in short form. Who are you, when did the band start, how long did it take you to write and record the album? How were the reactions of the press and your environment so far?

We, Benny and Simon, formed Rexul from the ashes of Diabolical Imperium and Eklipsis in September 2018. In the same month we immediately started writing the first riffs and lyrics; it took us 31 months to write the whole record. So far, the reactions from the press have been good to very good. For some listeners the songs are too long or some riffs or melodies are repeated. For us, the songs were perfect at the moment we recorded them, but we don't know any musician who wouldn't change something in the recording or songwriting afterwards.