Falkenbach - Heralding: The Fireblade
Napalm Records NPR177 - 28/11/2005
By Sam Brokenshaw
Falkenbach return with their fourth outing "Heralding: The Fireblade". This time Falkenbach have scored an excellent production, being fat and warm but also epic, with room for everything to breath. This album is very well conceived and executed, but sadly leaves me cold.
The album mixes the epic and the more intimate and extreme material well, providing stark contrast between the heroic and the downright evil. The guitars chug and gallop along with fairly simplistic but effective riffing, the vocals cover the spectrum from clean to black metal, but to me sound considerably more well conceived when the screams are in place. The drums are unremarkable but solid and the keys back things up nicely, giving an overall feel of competent musicianship and realised musical vision. This album is really well crafted and that should be applauded, but that just isn't enough to change my opinion of this band. I first heard the band on their previous album "Ok Nefna Tysvan", and at the time they just didn't impress me enough to warrant further exploration.
Previously, my experience of Falkenbach had been somewhat negative it's probably fair to say. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but Viking metal has never really appealed to me. Give me some Bathory or Enslaved and I'm happy, but anything other than that.... Sadly it seems Falkenbach are not going to change any of my feelings towards either them or the genre. It would be prudent to point out at this juncture that a fan of all things Heathen and coastal settlement-plundering would probably appreciate this album far more, but to me it just seems tired and cheesy.
6/10
Falkenbach Official Website
Napalm Records Official Website
Napalm Records NPR177 - 28/11/2005
By Sam Brokenshaw
Falkenbach return with their fourth outing "Heralding: The Fireblade". This time Falkenbach have scored an excellent production, being fat and warm but also epic, with room for everything to breath. This album is very well conceived and executed, but sadly leaves me cold.
The album mixes the epic and the more intimate and extreme material well, providing stark contrast between the heroic and the downright evil. The guitars chug and gallop along with fairly simplistic but effective riffing, the vocals cover the spectrum from clean to black metal, but to me sound considerably more well conceived when the screams are in place. The drums are unremarkable but solid and the keys back things up nicely, giving an overall feel of competent musicianship and realised musical vision. This album is really well crafted and that should be applauded, but that just isn't enough to change my opinion of this band. I first heard the band on their previous album "Ok Nefna Tysvan", and at the time they just didn't impress me enough to warrant further exploration.
Previously, my experience of Falkenbach had been somewhat negative it's probably fair to say. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but Viking metal has never really appealed to me. Give me some Bathory or Enslaved and I'm happy, but anything other than that.... Sadly it seems Falkenbach are not going to change any of my feelings towards either them or the genre. It would be prudent to point out at this juncture that a fan of all things Heathen and coastal settlement-plundering would probably appreciate this album far more, but to me it just seems tired and cheesy.
6/10
Falkenbach Official Website
Napalm Records Official Website
