Classy melodic folk metal played with a real fire in its heart

Swedish folk metal merchants Falconer are back with album number seven and it's as good as many of their best works, yet this CD also differs from everything they have done before. Differs because on this release the band have decided to let the folk metal elements that they utilise in their music, come to the fore and dominate the sound of 'Armod', and this album also differs because this time they have decided to sing the album in their own language (except for the bonus tracks, more of which later). Does this take anything away from the songs? No! In fact I would say that doing the album this way has brought out the very best in Falconer. So what did surprise me when I was researching this review, was that on the band's website Falconer guitarist and band leader Stefan Weinerhall seemed to be apologising for making a full album of folk metal music sung in Swedish, rather than recording the usual kind of Falconer album, yet on the showing of 'Armod' he and the band have nothing to be sorry about, Nothing!

So has singing in Swedish made Falconer's songs harder to enjoy? Far from it, in fact I find myself being drawn to this album the more I play it and prefer the Swedish versions to the English sung bonus tracks. 'Svart Ankan', the catchy as hell 'Grimborg', and the powerful 'Dimmornas Drottning' showcase the best things that can be found in the music of Falconer. Which is great musicianship, strong melodies, memorable hooks and killer vocals. And it is in singer Mattias Blad where the true strength of Falconer lies, his passionate vocals drive this album along like a championship racing car and he seems to really be enjoying the fact that he is singing in his own language for a change. So as I have said before, if language is no barrier to you enjoying an album, and you love classy melodic folk metal played with a real fire in its heart, then 'Armod' and Falconer could and should be just what you're looking for.

The bonus tracks I mentioned earlier are the four best tracks (in the band's opinion) with the vocals sung in English. A nice thing to round the CD off but they don't really change the fact that the Swedish versions are just as good, if not better.

Ian Johnson