A few questions automatically spring to mind when first contemplating Xystus’ “Equilibrio” CD. You can’t help but thinking things like, “does the world really need another rock opera?” or, “Why does Bas Dolmans appear twice in “band” pictures in the booklet, with entirely different cast of characters?” But then you throw the CD into the player, and the questions largely disappear, as you go for an unexpectedly entrancing ride through the musical minds of Dolmans and bandmates Ivo van Dyk and Joris van de Kerkhof.
Xystus’ third CD has taken the band’s ambitions to a whole new level. Unlike most “rock operas” recorded over the years, this project was actually brought to life, consuming a couple of years, and utilizing the talents of 130 people, according to the album booklet. The CD itself is a distillation of the stage production, a condensed set of highlight from the live version. That fact explains the initially confusing tracklist found on the back of the package, which skips from Act 1, Scene 1, to Scene 3 to Scene 5. The missing scenes don’t really take away from the story, however; in this reviewer’s opinion, anyway, the tale of an imbalance between good and evil, and the hero who sets things right, is secondary to the enjoyment of the disc. The story is cheesy, bombastic, over the top, and quite beside the point. The music it’s set to, well, that’s cheesy, bombastic and over the top, too, but that’s a good thing in the case of “Equillibrio.”
What van Dyk and van de Kerkhof have put together, musically, is an engaging mix of rock, classical, metal and symphonic styles. Given the number of people involved, and the fact that the opera was presented on stage, it’s fitting that the production feels grandiose, even larger than life on occasion. The instrumental opening track almost comes off as if it belongs in a movie soundtrack, with melodic elements that float in and out through the rest of the album. The second track introduces Simone Simons of the band, “Epica,” backed with dramatic guitars and string trills from the 80 piece orchestra serving to highlight the gravity of the situation in the story.
Later on, we meet other characters, voiced by professional theater actors, Michelle Splietelhof, and John Vooijs, who play their roles with gusto. These casting decisions, likely made for purposes of the stage production, work really well on CD, largely outshining Dolman’s own vocals as Diegu, the story’s hero. In a way, though, that serves the story well, as it allows you to think of the character as a person grappling with events greater than himself, and cheer him on in his quest.
"Equillibrio" isn’t perfect, there are times when the cheese threatens to overwhelm the proceeding, as in the balladic, ""Destiny Unveiled," or the start of the next track, which recalls both Celine Dion, and Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” within the opening 30 seconds. There are also moments where you think the band must have been listening to too many John Williams soundtracks (case in point, the opening to Act 1, Scene 5, with more trilling strings). Overall, however, the disc is one that elicits a lot more smiles than groans, whether it’s at George Oosthoek’s (Orphanage) enthusiastically growly portrayal of Death, or at the rollicking symphonic metal at the heart of Xystus’ core sound. Yeah, sure, the storyline is almost entirely irrelevant, but it’s an engaging, even triumphalistic CD musically, one I can well imagine throwing into the player when I need a pick me up.
(And in case you were wondering about the two different “band” pictures, one shows Dolmans with the other members of Xystus, while the other has Dolmans posing with his fellow actors from the stage production.)
