Interview with
Helge Stang (vocals) conducted by Tomas Skjørestad in 2007
Germany's newest viking metal sensation EQUILIBRIUM, hailing from the vast plains of Munich, has released one demo and one full-length album entitled "Turis Fratyr", and the band has already a great army of fans worldwide. Recently the band signed a deal with Nuclear Blast Records, and is now working hard with their upcoming masterpiece "Sagas".
With a newly signed deal and a new album in the works, it's time to do a little chat with Equilibriums lyricist and outstanding grim vocalist, Helge Stang.
 The interview took place one late evening on MSN Messenger. Helge is a nice guy, and no diffident man, and we talked for about two hours into the dark night…
The first snow had fallen in Munich that night, but here in Trondheim/Norway it was a lot more…:
Ha-ha, my Norwegian course book tells me "don't talk too much about snow to Norwegians - they don't like it the same way as Germans do" says Helge. Oh yes, he's right. All that snow up here is definitely not a favourite topic. Let's just skip the snow talk and hear what Helge thinks the song writing process for the new album is going…:
Urgh! It goes and goes... but there have occurred some problems… Usually I say: it takes as long as it takes. Currently we're trying this and that, play also new stuff live but I really can't tell you a release date. Of course, we know that many people are really looking forward to "Sagas"... but we don't want do disappoint 'em with some quick-made bullshit...
Ok… So, can you give us a short introduction of Equilibrium to people that are unfamiliar with your sound and music?
Oh yes: Equilibrium was founded in 2001 as a cover band and has become what many people call a "newcomer" here in Germany.
After leaving the chains of cover songs behind, we started our own kind of metal: heavy influences from score music / film soundtracks as well as influences from black and pagan metal define our sound.
Some people call it "Viking Metal" or "Pagan Metal", I've heard even "Black Metal", "Gothic Metal" (!!!) and so on. That's bullshit.
There is no drawer where we fit in and therefore we always recommend to write "Metal aus München" on posters and flyers," Metal" is always right.
Fitting description, I think…
Yeah, that's more or less the background of EQUILIBRIUM. Oh… and this important: vi er fra tyskland, og vi liker puppene!
Ha-ha-ha! OK, the men do... not the girl.... i hope…?
Well… he-he, maybe, you never know.
Right! Uhum… let's focus on the forthcoming record, going under the title "Sagas". What lyrical concept is there on the album?
It will have something to do with the title: sagas!
Aha! Ok…
On our last record, I often used ancient and mythological Scandinavian sagas to inspire myself.
You can see that on the first song: It's almost 1:1 from the poem Edda.
On the next album, there will be much more self-made sagas - therefore the title: Sagas!
Cool, I'll be looking forward to hear it, indeed!
I'd say that I write my own myths now. No need to steal anymore from you norsemen.
But there's one medieval tale from Germany about a blacksmith... I read it a few weeks ago and it matches 90% an idea I had once for a lyrical theme.
Okay, cool.
I really hope, that you'll get a good translation of the upcoming lyrics. One or two years ago I wrote one during the night while I was chatting with René, our compositor. He just sent me a mp3 and I wrote the lyrics. I still have to laugh about the last lines, which came from René… Anyway, the song will be called "Wurzelbert".
Ok… which means?
The name is more or less German and extremely silly and funny and old styled.
Our grand grandparents would have used the name, maybe. There is no translation, but it names an ugly man living in the woods and looking like some kind of nature-bum or something, roots instead of fingers and so on, a duff hat…
Don't ask me how I came up with this shit. It must be the music that whispered it to me…
In Equilibriums sound the synths are a much used instrument. Is that the way you write the compositions, and then adding guitars and drums afterwards?
As I just mentioned before, René is our main songwriter. The way he works will always be a mystery to me, but as far as I know, he writes everything at once; guitars, the basic drum parts, bass and keys.
Incredible often he creates a midi-file, shows it to us ands says "okay, lets find out how it sounds!"
Our drummer may be very young, but he does a good job and modifies the drum-lines as he and the rest of us likes.
Yeah, seems like all of you are one big manifest of very talented musicians…
The bonustrack on "TurisFratyr" for example: we've never played it before the release.
Shingo Murata, I persume?
Yeah, right. First time we heard the song was on the record - never before in our rehearsal room. It took three more drummers and 3/4 year to play it live on stage, ha-ha-ha!
Wow! Ok, it's very fast drumming, indeed. Which brings me to the question: Who is actually Mr. Shingo?
The song was inspired by Monkey Island ... do you remember the game?
You bet I do! I loved it and still worship it!
Yeah, René wrote the song during one week before the deadline of the album. We didn't found a name for it. And because we met some EQUILIBRIUM fans from Japan in Munich some weeks ago we just said "hey, why don't just call it 'Shingo Murata'?"
He was not one of them, but he is a fanatic!
He made a web site about EQUILIBRIUM - all I understood were the pictures among all these Japanese signs, and in the middle: a picture of him - wearing a helmet with horns, just like the Vikings in these bad movies, ha-ha.
Will there be the same epic majestic style as Turis Fratyr on "Sagas", or will you experiment more on the new album?
The style will be the same but there'll be more influences from other cultures and of course folk sounds. More Japanese, Irish, Scottish… More of everything, all covered under the curtain of the EQUILIBRIUM style, even something from Scandinavia. It will be more majestic, but also more quiet, harder and more fun.
Amazing, now I really can't wait. Now, can you mention five albums that you think is mandatory for all metalheads out there?
-I think I'd rather list you my five favourite ones...
Yeah, ok…
Let's try… without special order… Ok, here we go:
Ulver / Bergtatt, of course. And then the demo, Naglfar / Stellae Trajectio.
And these: Iron Maiden / Killers, Riger / Hamingja and Empyrium / Songs of Moors and Misty Fields
These albums are in my personal top-ten list.
Great choice.
There are of course many more good albums... most of them I even don't know.
Okay, thanks. Now, are you planning any DVD release? Maybe it's too early to ask after just one album…? But I'm asking on behalf of everyone who wants to catch a live show with you here in Scandinavia, for example? It's not the same feeling on a DVD, but still…
Good question! There will be released a digipack version of Sagas with a bonus dvd in it.
I'm currently editing the material, but won't be a full-length live-DVD, only a bonus with videos from the beginning till the recording of the album, some backstage shit, live concerts, wanking contests and all this shit…
Ok, he-he…
Just wait for one or two more gigs and then check out youtube.com... i'm fucking sure that there'll be a video of new songs uploaded there pretty soon, he-he-he.
Yeah , youtube is a goldmine for that kind of stuff, isn't it?
Indeed! I've found tons of funny EQUILIBRIUM stuff there already! One of these vids will be on the dvd as well! I've already contacted the author and got his permission!
Great! Sounds cool, man! I need toi ask you this question; what bands would you say have influenced Equilibrium's sound the most?
Besides lots of score music composers....
I'd say Menhir and Riger from Germany, Dream Theatre and old – and I mean really old Dimmu Borgir stuff. On the lyrical side I'd name Empyrium and Riger and Taake… even if I don't understand anything, he-he-he…
Ok…
Some people always think of Finntroll, Ensiferum, Turisas and so on...
But their influence is not as big as it seems. Even if they sound similar... the concept is different.
Yeah, that's the reference people use with any type of folk metal, in my opinion those bands don't have that much in common with you guys.
Thank you!! Glad to hear that.
Your welcome!
Well, that was about it. Great talking to you Helge, maybe we meet again sometime. Anything you want to say to the readers of Beat the Blizzard and EQUILIBRIUM fans out there in the cold winter world?
-Read the interview, he-he-he! Just kidding. Thanks to all who like our sound. It's for you we're doing all this shit!
Oh, here are some last words: Hilsen fra München! Skol alle samme!
He-he-he, skål to you too! Before we wrap things up, do you have any song titles ready for "Sagas" yet?
Some of them, yes. Like I told you, "Wurzelbert" is ready and another is "Blut Im Auge" - a song about my summer trip to Norway.
Hey, sounds good!
Man, you've got the most beautiful girls in the whole fucking world up there in Norway... believe me!!
And that was Helge's last words this time around...
Be sure to get a copy EQUILIBRIUM's debut album "Turis Fratyr", a true masterpiece and a must-have for fans of real melodic and majestic viking metal.
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