Metal Blade
2008
1. Field Of Sorrow
2. Man Of The Hour
3. A Beggar Hero
4. Vargaskall
5. Carnival Of Disgust
6. Mountain Men
7. Viddernas Man
8. Pale Light Of Silver Moon
9. Boiling Led
10. Skula Skorpa Skalk
11. Dreams And Pyres
For a band who's first album only dates to 2001, Falconer has put out a number of albums and has already went through a considerable amount of drama. Falconer made quite a splash in the power metal scene with their debut then things slipped when their vocalist departed and it seemed they might be in trouble. However, it did not take them long at all to get their singer back and their last album Northwind put the band right back on track. It's almost like their career is on fast forward as the output has been high and they've already gone through that whole original singer coming back to the fold bit.
As far as the new one, Among Beggars And Thieves gos, there's not a lot of surprises really. If you like Falconer's upbeat power metal with a touch of folk and dramatic deliveries than this is a fairly safe album and their signature established on the first album is stamped all over this. Like the original follow up though this album doesn't seem to have quite the fire and memorable songs that Northwind carried. There are a couple parts in this album that seemed like the band were trying too hard as well. I mean, A Beggar Hero could fit on a folk album easily. Granted it's a ballad, but I would've liked a touch of metal to it. Another track that gets too folky in parts to me would be Mountain Men which has one folk passage that sounds kinda silly and out of place. Maybe it's just me as I'm not much of a fan of too much folk in metal, but it seems over the top. I prefer the band when they're just galloping and ripping ahead with energy and memorable vocals line to these sorts of sing songy folk parts. On a similar note, Dreams and Pyres tries too hard to be epic and dramatic and those parts of the songs fall a little flat, while the more upbeat moments are actually quite good. None of these songs are really bad or unlistenable, but they are my nitpicks of this release.
In a way Falconer's output almost seems cyclical to me at this point. The debut was great, the follow up was good but not as good, the debut with the new singer was strong, the follow up was not, the return of the old singer was great, and now this one... is good, but not great basically. The bottom line is this will be enjoyable to Falconer fans, but I wouldn't call it their best release. As evidenced by the rating though, this is nothing to pass on either if you like the band.
Highlights: Field Of Sorrow, Man Of The Hour, Pale Light Of Silver Moon
Rating - 3.5/5
2. Man Of The Hour
3. A Beggar Hero
4. Vargaskall
5. Carnival Of Disgust
6. Mountain Men
7. Viddernas Man
8. Pale Light Of Silver Moon
9. Boiling Led
10. Skula Skorpa Skalk
11. Dreams And Pyres
For a band who's first album only dates to 2001, Falconer has put out a number of albums and has already went through a considerable amount of drama. Falconer made quite a splash in the power metal scene with their debut then things slipped when their vocalist departed and it seemed they might be in trouble. However, it did not take them long at all to get their singer back and their last album Northwind put the band right back on track. It's almost like their career is on fast forward as the output has been high and they've already gone through that whole original singer coming back to the fold bit.
As far as the new one, Among Beggars And Thieves gos, there's not a lot of surprises really. If you like Falconer's upbeat power metal with a touch of folk and dramatic deliveries than this is a fairly safe album and their signature established on the first album is stamped all over this. Like the original follow up though this album doesn't seem to have quite the fire and memorable songs that Northwind carried. There are a couple parts in this album that seemed like the band were trying too hard as well. I mean, A Beggar Hero could fit on a folk album easily. Granted it's a ballad, but I would've liked a touch of metal to it. Another track that gets too folky in parts to me would be Mountain Men which has one folk passage that sounds kinda silly and out of place. Maybe it's just me as I'm not much of a fan of too much folk in metal, but it seems over the top. I prefer the band when they're just galloping and ripping ahead with energy and memorable vocals line to these sorts of sing songy folk parts. On a similar note, Dreams and Pyres tries too hard to be epic and dramatic and those parts of the songs fall a little flat, while the more upbeat moments are actually quite good. None of these songs are really bad or unlistenable, but they are my nitpicks of this release.
In a way Falconer's output almost seems cyclical to me at this point. The debut was great, the follow up was good but not as good, the debut with the new singer was strong, the follow up was not, the return of the old singer was great, and now this one... is good, but not great basically. The bottom line is this will be enjoyable to Falconer fans, but I wouldn't call it their best release. As evidenced by the rating though, this is nothing to pass on either if you like the band.
Highlights: Field Of Sorrow, Man Of The Hour, Pale Light Of Silver Moon
Rating - 3.5/5
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