One of the brightest bands to come out of Sweden (that river never dries), formed by a guitarist Stefan Weinerhall and a drummer Karsten Larsson, both of Mithotyn, a death metal band that broke up in 1999. They decided to move into the realm of power metal and enlisted a very unique vocalist, Mattias Blad, a professional theatre singer. The result was the self-titled debut album (2000), which catapulted them into the leaders of the metal pack. With the follow-up, "Chapters from the Vale Forlorn" (2002) received extremely well, the band was firmly on the track for stardom. But year 2003 brought unexpected changes in the lineup, most significant being Blad's leave, due to his commitment to his "real" job in the theatre and inability to tour. Weinerhall hired singer Kristofer Gobel, formerly of the Swedish band Destiny, keeping Blad as the "guest vocalist" on the band's third album, "The Sceptre Of Deception" (2003). But it did not go well with the fans. Both "SoD" and the fourth album, "Grime & Grandeur" (2005), saw plummetting sales. Facing pressure from both fans and record company, Falconer re-invited Blad back, and "Northwind" (2006) ensued.
FALCONER (2001)
BEST SONGS: "Heresy In Disguise," "Royal Galley," "Substitutional World"
Produced by King Diamond's Andy LaRocque, this album is truly the best debut I've heard since "Glory To The Brave" by Hammerfall. Tasty riffs, excellent sound, great drumming, tasty riffs, solid songwriting, above-average lyrics, tasty riffs, unique vocals, good leads, good speed, tasty riffs. Did I mention the tasty riffs? In a struggle between more melody-oriented power metal and riff-oriented traditional metal that is currently developing in Europe, traditional metal got another powerful ally. Strong crunchy riffing in "Upon The Grave Of Guilt," "Heresy In Disguise," "Royal Galley," "Mind Traveller," and others put this band on the level of Primal Fear, Running Wild, and Sinner. Melody not to be left out, this album is still quite melodic, especially on a medieval power-folk masterpiece, "Quest For The Crown" (Blind Guardian and Rhapsody themselves would be proud of this one). Now, the vocals. Mattias Blad is arguably the most unique vocalist in the genre that's overflowing with high pitched screamers. His baritone is very pleasant to the ear, and he hardly ever screams, which caused a few simple-minded metal fans to accuse him of sounding "soulless." That's not true at all, because even though Blad doesn't shout, he delivers the same energy by skill alone, and where other vocalists must scream, he merely changes the tembre. Virtually all songs are great. "Upon The Grave Of Guilt" is very strong, "Heresy In Disguise" is a rocker's heaven, and "Substitutional World" is emotional, powerful, and crunchy at the same time (it also makes me think of the movie "Pi"). There is simply not a bad song on the album. Lyrics are also pretty neat, as they demonstrate a certain level of intelligence, and the fact that Blad has very little accent (which plagues the hordes of NWOEPM vocalists), assures a very positive effect on yours truly. Great work from these guys, and god help them stay original and fresh.
CHAPTERS FROM A VALE FORLORN (2002)
BEST SONGS: "Decadence Of Dignity," "Enter The Glade," "The Clarion Call"
At first, CfaVF may sound like a carbon copy of the debut, but it's not. They took a large step away from power metal and into folk. This album is not as charging as its predecessor, but it's more folky and melodic. This not exactly a change I would normally welcome, but it's done with such tremendous taste and emotion (people who hear no emotion in Blad's voice must be defining "emotions" differently) that I cannot but applaud them. The lyrics became more mature, tackling on issues like cults ("Enter The Glade"), wolfhunt ("For Life And Liberty"; a very cool solo, btw), and overall "Decadence Of Dignity" ("selling out what's not yours to sell, we're pimps of it all!"). The normal topics of medieval metal aren't abandoned either: "Lament Of A Minstrel" (with its magnificent flute) and "We Sold Our Homesteads" are outstanding folk metal pieces that take you right in the middle of the 16th century fair in the manner that Skyclad used to do so well. "The Clarion Call" is another folky piece, with chorus taken from an ancient Jewish song: "Do you hear the clarion call, calling one for one and all? Who will stand and who will fall? Who will walk the golden hall?" With time I learned to appreciate this album even more, and it's one of my favorites from that year. The band could improve the ensemble-ness of sound: it is difficult for a single guitar to pull it off. Also, the album's highlights are not quite the match of the highlights of the debut, especially "Heresy." But it's still an excellent album, and worth purchasing any day, although it may take a couple of spins to fully appreciate.
THE SCEPTRE OF DECEPTION (2003)
BEST SONGS: "Under The Sword," "Hooves Over Northland," "Ravenhair"
I was ready to hate this album and blast it to smithereens. Not that I have heard bad things about the music, but, as everybody knows, Mattias Blad was one of my all-time favorite vocalists, and I seriously doubted anybody could fill his shoes. Also, more often than not, a frontman change usually accompanies a change in musical direction, usually for the worse. And I was so happy with Blad-fronted Falconer from every standpoint imaginable, that I was ready to hate the new album. Well, guess what: three weeks into this album, I cannot get enough of it. No, Kristofer Gobel, the new vocalist, who looks like the King of Elves from the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, is not in the same league with Blad. He is, however, decent and does not make many mistakes (the only moment that makes me cringe is the first time he goes high in "The Coronation"). But it is the music and especially the vocal melodies that blow me away and propel this album into the year's Top 3. The album does not sound like either of the previous Falconer albums. In fact, it does not really sound like anything at all. The distinctive attributes of the music here are the jerky stop-and-go rhythm, almost resembling Conception and heavy-sounding folk melodies that sound a lot more sincere and natural than overblown folk opuses of Rhapsody et al. Take "We Sold Our Homesteads" from
CftVF, make it heavier, then stuff it with not one but several excellent vocal lines, and you have the majority of the SoD. There is still speed, like on "Trail Of Flames," but the main focus is on the heavy folky mid-tempo numbers. Virtually every tune boasts a beautiful chorus with lavish melodies, catchy to the point of absurd: "The Coronation," "Trail Of Flames," "Under The Sword," "Hooves Over Northland," "Pledge Of Freedom," title track, "Ravenhair" -- all of them -- and I was scrambling hard to come up with the three songs for the "best songs" list. One cannot help but wonder: how did Stephen Weinerhall come up with three albums full of insanely delicious melodies in the day and age when nobody could squirt out a spoonful! And Gobel sings these melodies well, so that makes him at least adequate. "Under The Sword" and "Hooves Over Northland" are both pretty similar to "We Sold Our Homesteads," only they are heavier and have amazingly interesting melodies. I only have two problems with this album. The lineup now features five musicians, but they still sound like three. The Johansson brothers on second guitar and bass are practically not heard. It is possible that Anders Johansson is playing some of these wonderful riffs and melodies, I don't know, but there is no "ensemble-ness" to speak of; maybe it will improve in the future. And the second problem, which is also a reason why I did not give this album an immediate ***** rating and an "instant classic" label is that I simply hate to think what would it sound like with Blad handling all vocal duties, instead of just showing up on three tracks. For the sake of fairness, it must be noted that on these three tracks he sounds whiny and not at all up to his usual (tremendously high) standards. Maybe it was done intentionally by LaRocque and Weinerhall, just to sugarcoat the pill of Blad's stepdown. But when I imagine the Blad of the debut singing "from early morning until the night" ("Hooves Over Northland"), I get a throat lump. But everything else is nearly impeccable. The story (it's a rock opera) is somewhat confusing (mostly due to the small print and Swedish names), but it is not trivial and is definitely of interest to the fans of medieval epic tales. To make the (enormously) long story short: this album rules and exceeds every expectation I was ever biased enough to have for it. Give it a chance.
GRIME VS. GRANDEUR (2005)
RATING: ***1/2
BEST SONGS: "Purgatory Time," "Humanity Overdose," "Child Of The Wild"
Well, it has finally happened, that which four years ago seemed impossible: Falconer, "everybody's favorite new band," released a weak album. At least relatively weak. In certain places, the music, the lyrics, and the atmosphere remind us of the Falconer's early glory, but these places are few, far and between the overall mediocrity of the material and the performance. Some moments are just plain bad, none more than in "The Assailant," where the excellent main riff and the music are absolutely raped by Kristoffer Gobel's awful vocalizing. He sounds almost identical to Joe Elliot of Def Leppard, but what worked in "Wasted," does not work here. Overall, Gobel's voice, which sounded splendid in SoD, is now covering the specter between awesome / powerful ("Purgatory Time") and squeaky / repulsive (pre-chorus to "Power," and the said "Assailant"). Most of the time, though, he is simply average, at times resembling lower-end Dickinson. It is also painful to hear even good vocal melodies being similarly butchered by his sub par singing ("The Return"). A lamentable outing from the band that once boasted the best vocalist of the decade.
Opening "Emotional Skies" has the most atrocious pop refrain, the kind that would invoke the image of Britney Spears giving "the horns." Actually, the album suffers from frequent "overgloss" and poppiness, other notable moments being choruses in "Humanity Overdose" (which is partially saved by its last line) and "No Tears For Strangers," bridge in "Power," and some others. Intricate folk melodies have been substituted for toothless, loungy harmonies. The riffs have also lost some of their edge and tastiness, becoming more conventional and simplistic. They aren't bad, mind you, but the standard of comparison is too high (hell, Stephen Weinerhall gave us one of the greatest riffs of all time in "Heresy In Disguise," and now this?). The only improvement over the preceding album is that a five man band now finally sounds like a five man band. You clearly hear two guitars and a bass, but Falconer was never about the sound, more about riffs, melodies, and vocals, all glazed with solid lyrics. In that last department, they are still above average, but the first three tracks on the album being about bad relationships is not helping any. It is also strange that "Jack The Knife," the most Falconer-esque song in terms of riffs, melodies, sound, and even vocals (perhaps the only moment where I do not miss Blad) also has the most un-Falconer-like violent lyrics! Besides, any metal band that writes a song about Jack the Ripper immediately invites criticism and unfavorable comparisons to Judas Priest. The final track, "Child Of The Wild," is the second most Falconer-esque song on the album, without any "ifs" and "buts," and it would totally fit on Chapters Of The Vale Forlorn, although the slowdown could also be more interesting. Too bad we had to wait until the last two tracks to actually hear Falconer that we know and love.
Now, again, this is not a bad album, and all the moments I did not specifically bash above are, in essence, good. But their previous releases have all been stellar, and simply "good" is not what we have come to expect from Falconer. The bar was raised too high, and now the monolith has cracked, although has not yet crumbled down. So buy it at your own risk if you already are a fan, but if you have never heard Falconer, this is not the album to start with.
NORTHWIND (2006)
BEST SONGS: “Spirit Of The Hawk,” “Blinded,” “Home Of The Knave”
Oh hell yeah! This is exactly what each and every Falconer fan wanted to hear! Blad is back! Falconer is back! They are back playing exactly the style that made them famous in the first place. Plenty of folk melodies, galloping beats, catchy riffs, and, above it all, the voice of Mr. Smooth, Mattias Blad, wearing his Figaro attire. The whole album screams: “You wanted Blad? Here you go!” The band’s picture has Blad on the forefront, with others way behind him, barely visible. The cd begins with a sweet acoustic intro with Blad’s sweet voice, which should send every early Falconer fan into frenzy. There is no progression here from early stuff of any kind. This album reverts back to Falconer and Chapter, not takes them further. The songwriting is solid; it isn’t accomplishing anything that Weinerhall hasn’t accomplished before, but it’s still very pleasant. Unfortunately the album is not as energetic as the rest of the band’s catalog. “Spirit Of The Hawk” is the most electrifying song on the album, it comes as if straight from the debut, a charging double-bass gallop. “Perjury And Sanctity” is another fast one, but it is almost identical to “Spirit Of The Hawk,” differing only in chorus. “Waltz With The Dead” and “Long Gone By” are folky waltzes. “Tower Of The Queen” is very similar to “Quest For The Crown” and other similar Falco-tales. I also wish Blad raised his voice more: he is just too sweet and tame. Where he does show some attitude, like in “Blinded,” you get an instant Falconer classic. The lyrics are of usual high quality, talking about greed, politics (a poke at Bush in “Home Of The Knave” is particularly welcomed here), and medieval folklore. I still wish the band would work on its ensemble sound, and make their music sound like they have two guitars, instead of one. Maybe it’s time for a pseudo-symphonic production, in vein of Nightwish or Rhapsody, just to hear how would Blad sound with the orchestra. Overall, a nice return to form, but I hope they do not seize to progress.
AMONG BEGGARS AND THIEVES (2008)
RATING: ***1/2
BEST SONGS: “Vargaskall,” “Skula, Skorpa, Skalk,” “Dreams and Pyres”
For any other band this would be an excellent album. For Falconer it’s merely a good album. It’s not as immediate as most of their catalog items, but gets better after several listens. The intent to recapture the old glory with the same arsenal is evident, but the weapons are starting to rust. Yes, Mattias Blad is still one of the best and most unique vocalists in the world (he actually sounds more inspired here than on the “reunion” disc), but without catchy vocal melodies he is like a warrior without a sword, and Stephen Wienerhall did not arm him with much. This album could use more of catchy sing-alongs and tasty riffs: the songs lack real intensity and sometimes even focus. Every song ends abruptly, there are almost no outros or conclusions. “Carnival of Disgust” cuts itself off in every chorus. “A Beggar Hero” literally begs for a buildup and a development into a massive epic, but never does, staying one-dimensional and leaving a taste of incompleteness in my mouth. Luckily, the album’s final number, “Dreams & Pyres,” does exactly that, in fashion of both “Ravenhair” (from “The Scepter of Deception”) and Queen. It is both intense and majestic. Other finer moments (the ones with hooks and energy) include “Man of the Hour” (the chorus), “Boiling Led” (the verse), and all three Swedish-language tracks. This is rather puzzling: how can Wienerhall and the crew still possess the magic touch when writing in their native language and show depletion when writing in English? Maybe I’m wrong, and the Swedish-language songs are an exercise in platitude and an embarrassment for Swedish speakers, but from my perspective they’re simply better than others. The non-stop historic tales are also becoming burdensome and repetitive. Remember, on the s/t debut, the fables of “Quest for the Crown” and “Royal Galley” were interspersed by modern and relevant pieces like “Substitutional World.” As Skyclad has definitively proven, there is more to folk metal than folky tales. Another demerit is the incessant double-bass drumming. Almost every track has it. Enough already, Karsten! All that said this is still a better release than the bulk of modern metal. Andy LaRocque’s production is yet again spotless. I really like the artwork. To sum up: not bad, but I expected more.
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