Good review. It's funny though, as much as I think I dislike this vocalist I find myself listening to this album more than "Among Beggars and Thieves". And that's saying a lot for Falconer's discography. I actually think if the name "Falconer" wasnt attatched to this album this would be a lot more popular. It sounds a lot like some new Ensiferum songs to me and has some background chanting. This album may be the most solid of them all as far as song writting, it's just different. There is really no wastefulness anywhere on this album, all the guitar melodies and even vocal melodies are very well written.

For anyone not sure how to approach this album, It might help to think of it as the oddity or clult classic in Falconer's career. "Grime vs Grandeur" is indeed a not so good album and it's easy to assosciate this vocalist with it, but "Sceptre Of Deception" is very different. Some of the guitar riffs on this album are classics within the genre, rare and epic riffs like heard on some Ensiferum, Forefather, and In Flames songs.

I would love to write a full review for this. It's one of the few Falconer albums I can actually listen all the way through which doesnt break its atmosphere. This album is a classic folk metal album, one of the best, and an entirely different beast than the Falconer we know. Next year Falconer is releasing a purely folk based all swedish sung album entitled "Armod". For those who skipped Sceptre, its time to take a second look.

I have to admit I liked it a bit

I like this album. The guitars are really cool and not typical, drumming is intense and this singer is actually good (in studio at least) and doesn't ruin the Falconer experience. Actually he tries to sound like Mathias sometimes but has a slighly lighter voice and tends to sing higher melodies. Fav. tracks "Ravenhair" and "The Coronation". Also some parts have harmonies with a female vocalist which is really nice.