Falconer is a band that I've arrived very late to their party. Lately, I've been exploring their catalog and I'm curious to what albums are considered their best, classics, etc.?
~Brian~
~Brian~
Favorite Falconer?
- Thread starter edgeofthorns
- Start date
My favorite is their second album, "Chapters Of A Vale Forlorn", but probably because it was the first album of theirs that I bought.
Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with any of their albums with Blad singing. (That is, every album except for "Sceptre Of Deception" and "Grime vs. Grandeur", which Kristoffer Gobel sang.) Depending on your tolerance on non-English vocals, you may want to pass on Armod, or at least save it for later. Even the Gobel-led albums have something worthwhile to offer. I expected to hate GvG, and I didn't.
Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with any of their albums with Blad singing. (That is, every album except for "Sceptre Of Deception" and "Grime vs. Grandeur", which Kristoffer Gobel sang.) Depending on your tolerance on non-English vocals, you may want to pass on Armod, or at least save it for later. Even the Gobel-led albums have something worthwhile to offer. I expected to hate GvG, and I didn't.
My top 4 Falconer albums in order:
1) Chapters from a Vale Forlorn
2) Falconer
3) Black Moon Rising
4) Armod
Similar to others, I rate the Gobel albums behind the Blad albums, not just because of the vocals, but because the music didn't seem quite as inspired. Could be bias over the vocals impacting other areas, though.
If you want a preview of what to expect from them, their setlist from Wacken is online at setlist.fm and I'd expect their Rockstad Falun/Sabaton Open Air setlist to show up early next week as well. I won't post it here since some people don't like spoilers, but I'm quite pleased with what they played, although I hope to see them play for a solid 90 minutes here since they have the time (60 minute sets at Wacken and Falun).
1) Chapters from a Vale Forlorn
2) Falconer
3) Black Moon Rising
4) Armod
Similar to others, I rate the Gobel albums behind the Blad albums, not just because of the vocals, but because the music didn't seem quite as inspired. Could be bias over the vocals impacting other areas, though.
If you want a preview of what to expect from them, their setlist from Wacken is online at setlist.fm and I'd expect their Rockstad Falun/Sabaton Open Air setlist to show up early next week as well. I won't post it here since some people don't like spoilers, but I'm quite pleased with what they played, although I hope to see them play for a solid 90 minutes here since they have the time (60 minute sets at Wacken and Falun).
Not going to happen, but have you listened to King of Asgard? Good band with ex-Mithotyn members that continues in the same vein.
Palabra de Dios
Heavy Metal Weatherman
A little context for you - Falconer arose from the ashes of a band called Mithotyn, which was a folky viking themed band from the '90s, that really was ahead of its time, doing what eventually got very popular in the 2000s when the PaganFest tours started popping up. Regardless, Falconer has always retained that folky vibe to their riffs (even in the absence of the folk instruments like you'd see in bands like Eluveitie or Svartsot). This means that when they popped up in 1999, their albums were a little bit different (in a good way) from the Hammerfall and Stratovarius power metal stuff that was gaining traction in like 1997. So Falconer's early material became "classic" very quickly, and the band still plays quite a bit of material from the first two albums. I think they hold up really well; songs like "Mindtraveller," "A Quest for the Crown," "Enter the Glade," and "Clarion Call" are unstoppable. So those first two albums are pretty essential.
I like the two albums with Kristoffer Göbel well enough (I think the song "The Coronation" is one of the best the band has ever done), but Mathias is just "THE VOICE," and when he came back for Northwind, that album was like right on the mark. It's actually the full album I go back to and listen the most, and when it's at its best I think it's the best material the band has ever done - the title track, "Perjury and Sanctity," "Fairyland Fanfare," "Waltz With the Dead," etc. etc., are all fucking SPOT ON.
I also think the newest album is up there with my favorites too, because certain songs are just crazy catchy. "Halls and Chambers" might actually be my favorite song the band has ever done, and that's crazy because I've listened to Clarion Call about a billion times and it never gets old. But the title track "Black Moon Rising" has an awesome chorus and the song "Wasteland" almost sounds like a black metal song at first, it's so intense.
So if I had to rank the albums in order of my favorite to least favorite:
Northwind
Chapters from a Vale Forlorn
Falconer
Black Moon Rising
Among Beggars and Thieves
Armod
The Sceptre of Deception
Grime VS Grandeur
I like the two albums with Kristoffer Göbel well enough (I think the song "The Coronation" is one of the best the band has ever done), but Mathias is just "THE VOICE," and when he came back for Northwind, that album was like right on the mark. It's actually the full album I go back to and listen the most, and when it's at its best I think it's the best material the band has ever done - the title track, "Perjury and Sanctity," "Fairyland Fanfare," "Waltz With the Dead," etc. etc., are all fucking SPOT ON.
I also think the newest album is up there with my favorites too, because certain songs are just crazy catchy. "Halls and Chambers" might actually be my favorite song the band has ever done, and that's crazy because I've listened to Clarion Call about a billion times and it never gets old. But the title track "Black Moon Rising" has an awesome chorus and the song "Wasteland" almost sounds like a black metal song at first, it's so intense.
So if I had to rank the albums in order of my favorite to least favorite:
Northwind
Chapters from a Vale Forlorn
Falconer
Black Moon Rising
Among Beggars and Thieves
Armod
The Sceptre of Deception
Grime VS Grandeur
Justin G
Member
I'm not a huge fan, but I liked their first two, and the one that was sung in Swedish was quite good.
The self titled debut and Northwind are the best . There are a couple of other good songs on other albums. Clarion Call is probably the best of those , off the second album .
OrbWeaver
BECAUSE FALCONER
Chapters is the best because of "The Clarion Call" IMO.
Start with the S/T and Chapters.
The newest, Black Moon Rising is really excellent.
Quite frankly, you can't go wrong with any of the Mathias material.
Start with the S/T and Chapters.
The newest, Black Moon Rising is really excellent.
Quite frankly, you can't go wrong with any of the Mathias material.
Keir
Member
Palabra de Dios
Heavy Metal Weatherman
The thing that's mainly wrong with Grime VS Grandeur isn't necessarily even the lack of Mathias. Sure, he's the superior vocalist, but the album is pretty generic power metal compared to the folky and technical style they really gained ground with. Northwind was such a breath of fresh air (and a sigh of relief!) when it came out!
Their debut album seems to be the most popular among their fanbase, as it represents about a third of their setlist to this day. However, I believe that each album from "Northwind" onward has been a step up in quality. "Black Moon Rising" is probably my favorite album by them. Blad sounds like he finally got the hang of this power metal thing after 15 years. I understand that he's not a typical power metal singer, and though it's obviously a big part of his charm, I always felt that his voice could easily be drowned out by the band in a live setting. On this latest album, I feel that he brought a little more power to his performance. Those are my two cents, anyway. I'm sure I'll get a lashing from Joan soon enough!
Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert
Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert
Palabra de Dios
Heavy Metal Weatherman
Black Moon Rising could stand the test of time and become a top favorite for me as well. It has such strong material.
Purveyor Of Evil
Heavy Metal, INC.
raising_iron
Member
- Nov 3, 2006
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The first 2 are musts - after that I prefer Northwinds, although as stated above, any of them with Mathias is righteous.
OrbWeaver
BECAUSE FALCONER
I will say the two albums with Kris on vocals are worthwhile, just not a good place to start. However, Grime vs. Grandeur has "Child of the Wild" which is probably one of Falconer's best tracks. It's up there with The Clarion Call and Mindtraveller.
I had bought the two non-Blad CDs several years back from Ken's website...the sale section. I thought that was a good place to start with a band that I wasn't familiar with. In hindsight that really didn't work out for me, because I thought they were average at best. I guess that's what I get for being cheap!
~Brian~
~Brian~
NorseBlood
franks n steins
"The Clarion Call" is indeed excellent. I would like to add to that "Lament of a Minstrel". I love that song. Its a good head-banger and the lyrics are first rate.
