Vequinox is a duo from the USA. I first encountered them on the Current 93 tribute “The Bells shall sound forever”. There are apocalyptic folk elements on their debut “Planetary Harmony”, but also hints of medieval, world, darkwave and other styles. Main members Chad and Lisa share the vocals and play a wide range of electronic and acoustic instruments, including dulcimer, sitar, psaltery, trumpet.
The album stars with a instrumental medieval hymn ‘Venus waxing’, which returns as ‘Venus waning’ in the last track, very nice and festive. ‘Mantra of Venus’ is a good folky song with ethnic elements, like the percussion and the ritual vocal style by Lisa, which is a bit too ‘sharp’ for my ears. ‘White Boxes’ is a solemn acoustic song with vocals by Chad, a very nice timeless singer-songwriter type of song. Then follows the traditional ‘Edward’, which we know of Sol Invictus. A beautiful song, performed by Vequinox in a decent manner.
After this track the album changes drastically. ‘Battlefield’ is a romantic wave-pop song which could have been released by the Projekt label. ‘This old town’ stretches the genre boundaries much further, with jazzy, bossanova elements. Adventurous, but lasting much too long. ‘End of time’ is different too, but more successful as a moody gothic song somewhere between Siouxsie and Faith & the Muse. ‘Eastern dulcimer’ song is an instrumental piece well described by its title, quite nice and reminding of Dead Can Dance.
Vequinox has certainly proved to be a creative duo. I enjoy most tracks, especially the first half of the album is very nice. “Planetary Harmony” is a entertaining creation, which takes you to various corners of the musical galaxy.
Available though CD Baby.
