FALCONER - Armod CD Review

ARTIST: Falconer
TITLE: Armod
LABEL: Metal Blade
YEAR: 2011
REVIEWED BY: Trystan MacDonald

As a metal head I find myself often having to defend my music (practically my faith) from the mainstream at the gates. Now, it is without a shadow of a doubt that Heavy Metal music is home to the best musicians in the world. I find that anyone that challenges the Heavy Metal seems to direct their argument at the vocals. Screaming and growling is looked down upon as being untalented. I defend metal vocalists by stating that those particular singers need to sing like that in order to match the intensity of the instrumentals. The new album by Falconer is a clear example of what happens when the vocals do not match up with instrumentals.

Armod is a good album. I cannot deny the instrumental talent, and poetic Swedish lyrics are a pleasure to the ears. However, to my frustration, I found the album extremely unbalanced between the lyrics and the instrumentals. I often found myself banging my head to an incredible riff only for the momentum of that rift to disappear and fade into a very slow melodic passage for the lyrics. The instrumentals and vocals when separated are incredible. Together they do not match. The speed and ultimate heavy sound of the instrumentals demand a deeper and more ‘brutal’ voice. The poetic and folkish Swedish lyrics require more gentle instrumentals.

I admire the band for trying to join the two. However, as mentioned above, vocalists scream and growl to meet the intensity projected by the instruments. Falconer, in my personal opinion, would have done well to release the album as either an instrumental, or slow it down to make an acoustic album. Ultimately, the potential of the vocals and instrumentals are lost trying to accommodate for one another.

TRACKLISTING:

01. Svarta Ankan
02. Dimmornas Drottning
03. GrifteFrid
04. O, Tysta Ensamhet
05. Vid Rosornas Grav
06. Grimborg
07. Herr Peder Och Hans Syster
08. Eklundapolskan
09. Grimasch Om Morgonen
10. Fru Silfver
11. Gammal Fabodpsalm