The history of Arvas goes back to 1992, when it was formed as Örth by Vassago Rex (ex-Aeternus, ex-Dødsfall and ex-Ancient to mention a few musical encounters) and was joined by Ares (the main man of Aeternus) and Grim (drums on the first three Borknagar albums, Gorgoroth’s “Under the sign of Hell” and member of Immortal during the “Pure Holocaust”-era). After the dead of Grim, Örth got dissolved but was resurrected and renamed into Arvas in 2001 till 2006 and yet again resurrected in 2008.
Since the last resurrection, Arvas got quite active when it comes song writing and releasing albums, as this is the 5th full-length and recorded by V-Rex himself. Although Second Wave Black Metal, with hints of Mayhem, Immortal and Gorgoroth, is the basis of Arvas’ extreme metal, you will hear other influences as well. A song like “Carven” has a groovin’ rockin’ vibe, you will hear certain old Aeternus approach as well and the start of “My Devil” is a wink towards Death Angel’s “The Ultra-Violence”. And there is a Coroner homage with “Masked Jackal” as closing track.
“Equanimity” is certainly a well-played, diverse and solid album, which deserves more attention than it received, but maybe “solid” isn’t enough any more nowadays. (Ricardo)
