Reviewed by Tony Cummings

As our buddies at Heaven's Metal have observed, "Some may say that 'Equilibrium' is Whitecross going alternative. Actually, it's more like alternative going Whitecross." They were talking about the eye-catching packaging but they could as easily have meant the heavy metal ingredient that is still evident in many of the post-punk bands. Scott Wenzel doesn't do the exercises in larynx-destruction he once practiced on tracks like "Salt City" preferring to sing more than scream while "Full Crucifixion" could, with a cleaner distortion, almost be a PFR tune. There's a good vocal on "This One" ("I do believe it's still a mystery/How one man changed the course of history") while "Fallen Star" is about Lucifer. Some seering axe solos, a vocal (a good one too) from guitarist Barry Graul, and all in all an album which moves the band towards a more contemporary sound without wimping out.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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