Band:	Falconer
Album:	Northwind
Style:	Folk metal, Power metal
Release date:	September 22, 2006
Guest review by:	Bas

Disc I
01. Northwind
02. Waltz With The Dead
03. Spirit Of The Hawk
04. Legend And The Lore
05. Catch The Shadows
06. Tower Of The Queen
07. Long Gone By
08. Perjury And Sanctity
09. Fairyland Fanfare
10. Himmel Så Trind
11. Blinded
12. Delusion
13. Home Of The Knave
14. Black Tarn [nstrumental]
15. Child Of The Wild [2006 version] [b :Japanese]

Disc II [digipack bonus CD]
01. Kristallen Den Fina
02. Ridom Ridom
03. Liten Vätte
04. Våvindar Friska
+ Video documentary of the recording process

Back when Falconer started out they had an amazing vocalist. A Swedish actor by the name of Mathias Blad. His voice was unmatched and together with the playful yet extremely catchy and epic instrumental execution of the music, he and Falconer made two absolutely fantastic albums. Then Mathias left the band due to time reasons. Not only did the fans grieve, the next two albums by Falconer were horrible, too. Then however, something happened which greatly gladdened me. Mathias returned to the band. Next year a new Falconer album hit the shops, and I was amongst the first to buy it. More on the rejoining of Mathias Blad can be read here in my interview, but now let's continue, and see what change this old face brought to the band.

This is clearly a back to the roots kind of album, yet it is not quite the same. Basically the music is power metal but with a lot of folk elements in it and an extremely epic touch to it. Some very good guitar soli and the ever-recognizable voice of Mathias Blad, reminding greatly of a medieval bard, are present to complete this mix. The guitar parts are absolutely superb, the drumming sounds the same most of the time though. While it varies a lot in terms of speed it sounds as if the drums were played on a four-piece kit. Nearly every hit on the kit sounds the same throughout the CD. The lyrics all have a medieval setting but contain numerous metaphors which are still applicable to the modern day. There's also one song in Swedish.

There are a few extremely enjoyable songs and passages on this album, for example the chorus "Spirit of the hawk wild and free, master of the sky!" is a guaranteed sing-alonger! Also songs like "Catch The Shadows" and the beginning of "Tower Of The Queen" are absolutely fantastic. The big problem of this album though, is that it simply has too many filler parts and songs. Actually I would have deemed my money better spent if this album were only half an hour long, half of its current length. The songs just get too repetitive after a while and too many of them sound too similar.

In direct comparison with the other albums it's way better then the third and fourth, that's an absolute no-brainer, seen how horrible those two were. Compared to the first two albums though, this album sounds blander and almost as if it were written and played in a half-hearted manner. It has a more mature touch to it but actually that might be the reason why I liked the first two albums so much more.

All in all this album is a great power metal CD. For Falconer though this one is definitely not their best. Although it is a huge step in the right direction, it doesn't live up to my expectations when I heard that Mathias had rejoined the band. Like I said, compared to most other power metal bands, this is a great album; I greatly advise to just get the first two Falconer albums instead though.