The
early summer of 2014 was a good time to be a folk metal fan, as June brought on
not one, but three such albums, mostly from bands that took their sweet time
working on their next release.
Falconer, Black moon rising
Black moon rising
is a pleasant album, that sends out tons of good vibes, without becoming too
cheesy or fainty, in typical Falconer vein. Relying heavily on Mathias Blad’s
simple, yet clear and warm voice and on catchy and melodious hooks that inspire
you to sing along, it doesn’t depart from the recipe of success that the band
established with the first releases. The only difference is that it seems a bit
more powerful and more aggressive than the previous albums, but not by much. Also,
Falconer set out to be a mix of power and folk metal so intertwined that I
don’t think even they used to know in which direction is the balance tipping.
On this album, however, the balance clearly tips towards power metal, as the
folk aspect is almost entirely overlooked and the only truly folkish track is Scoundrel and the Squire (which is a
nice little medieval song, with a waltz-like tempo).
