If you’ve been following Nine Circles for a while, you’ll know that, back in the day, the band Equilibrium used to be a big deal for Corey and I. I first came across their blend of folky symphonic black metal way back in college, upon the release of Sagas, back in 2008. I clued Corey in and we promptly fell in love, following the band through Rekreatur, Erdentempel and beyond. (Hell, Corey’s post sign-off since day one has been former-vocalist Robert-Martin “Robse” Dahn’s “Ein bier… bitte” line from the beginning of the “Wirtshaus Gaudi” video.) Suffice it to say, we liked Equilibrium quite a bit.

This has been a bit difficult to reconcile, because Equilibrium is, uh… pretty rough now.

Dahn evidently realized this and jumped ship a couple of years back. He’s now back in the spotlight with his new, eponymous band, and a debut album, Harlekin & Krieger. Their remit? Good lord, just make something more listenable than whatever-the-fuck-Equilibrium-is-doing-these-days. It’s an astonishingly low bar to clear. So, was the band up to the task?

Reader, it gives me no pleasure to report that the answer, here, is a “yes, but…” Yes, but… not by a whole lot. It’s a bit rough itself, truth be told. Harlekin & Krieger provides a potential template from which future Robse releases might build, but the execution just ain’t all the way there yet.

If you were expecting Robse and Co. to fully return to the folkier days of Equilibrium’s past, you’re in for a bit of a startling awakening. Harlekin & Krieger doesn’t feel like it’s even aiming for folk metal so much as it is for modern melodeath. The guitars are thick and meaty, and the songs eschew adjectives like “nimble” or “majestic” in favor of things like “freaking pounding.” It’s somewhat of a departure from the band Dahn left behind, but it doesn’t immediately feel like enough of one to have justified the split.

In any case, the new sonic template does yield its occasional rewards. The album’s title track is an early highlight, with its gale-force tempo, terrific interplay between guitarists Dennis Baron and Oliver Hey and an absolutely exhilarating refrain. Later on, “Von der Schenke zur Taverne” brings back a bit of the folkier tendencies, with an immediately catchy melody and a captivating build, release, build-again dynamic arc. The ballad “Lied der Nacht” is another standout, with an enchanting lead vocal performance from keyboardist Alina Lesnik, whom Dahn eventually joins for a duet.

But beyond these, Harlekin & Krieger ultimately left me a bit cold. In general, it’s just a pretty clunky record. All too often, things end up feeling derivative, be it of other genre mainstays or even other Robse songs.

Does “Hey Sturm” sound familiar? Tune it up a half-step and you’ve basically got Amorphis’ “My Enemy.” Later on, if the chorus of “Flamme der Revolution” rings a bell, it’s because it’s been cribbed from Harlekin & Krieger‘s title track. When the ideas are original, they feel telegraphed and predictable. The melodies generally go where you expect them to, and the song structures generally hit all the points you’d expect a modern melodeath tune to hit.

And, we really need to talk about Dahn’s vocals. Harsh vocals are what they are, and critiquing them can feel a bit silly, but… it’s astonishing how one-note he sounds on Harlekin & Krieger. His voice is bloated, and barky, and… rough. At times, it feels like listening to static on a CRT television. This is particularly frustrating because the guy used to positively shine! Replacing Helge Stang in a band and coming out ahead is no easy task, but Dahn did exactly that in Equilibrium. His growls always felt as vibrant as growls possibly could feel: as icy, and seething, and light on their feet as the music behind them. Hearing that dynamism abandon him here was a real bummer.

I really, really wanted Harlekin & Krieger to come out of the gate swinging. I really, really wanted to love it. But in the end, it doesn’t, and I don’t. It’s better than modern Equilibrium — for what that’s worth — but it’s sadly not enough to make Robse stand on its own. Here’s hoping better days are ahead.

Keep it heavy,
—Dan

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Harlekin & Krieger is available now via Reaper Entertainment. For more information on Robse, visit the band’s Facebook page.