Falkenbach - Tiurida (2011)

As one of the originators of Pagan and Norse mythology themed heavy metal, Vratyas Vakyas, the sole member of Falkenbach has never really been that prolific over the twenty plus years the band has been active, but generally when it does come time to release something new you can expect quality. 'Tiurida' is the fifth Falkenbach album since '89 when the band was originally formed and it marks a six year gap between the last album, 'Heralding - The Fireblade,' which was a Re-recorded version of an unreleased album from '95.

As a starting point it should be pretty obvious that this record is slightly different and generally pales in comparison to the bands earlier efforts, namely, '...En Their Medh Riki Fara...' & '...Magni Blandinn Ok Megintiri...,' but it does uphold some of the strengths that are known of the band from the last two albums.

Opening with a short 'Intro' that features a slowly building synth melody amongst nature sounds, it would be assumed that the first song, '...Where His Ravens Fly...' would burst fourth from your speakers, but that's not quite the case. In fact, its quite a calm and folky piece of music at first with Vratyas' cleanly voice leading the charge and for the next six minutes or so the listener is taken on a majestic journey through Northern mythological tales and the familiar Falkenbach metal-ness. 'Time Between Dog And Wolf' shows the first signs of the 'heavier' side of Falkenbach with a solid leading riff and raspy growls the song moves at a mid-tempo Bathory-ish pace and quite similarly to Quorthon's Viking era it has the occasional choral vocals and even a well placed solo.

By the time you reach the fourth song, 'Tanfana' you've sort of already got everything that this album has to offer. Again this one has a sort of bouncy folky drive to it that may either be seen as epic or silly depending on your tastes, but its not really a bad song, its a well played instrumental that doesn't sound entirely different from the ones found on the first two albums, but hardly matching in overall quality. The remaining four songs are certainly decent, they don't really stand out dramatically, but they offer nothing new from the first four songs or Falkenbach albums.

I can admit there was a time when stuff like Falkenbach seemed to lift my soul and take me to heavenly grandiose places, and I get that a bit out of the second song, but the whole album hardly does and music in general rarely does that for me. I guess the older I've gotten I've realized that the world is what it is and I know full well that there isn't some bronzen hall up in the sky where I'll feast after I die in battle... still, I find Norse mythology and stuff related to it to be amusing, occasionally.

'Tiurida' will probably not appeal much to those that have been listening to this band since the early albums, as I have, but if you're new to the style or sub-genre its entirely possible that you'll be moved in that ceremoniously triumphant manner that music like this once did for me all the time.