Northwind [IMPORT]

Falconer

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 3, 2006)
• Original Release Date: October 3, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Metal Blade
• ASIN: B000I2KS1Q
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #190,822 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great songwriting, great singing... do they do anything NOT great?, October 26, 2006

By	Jon Gunter (Greensboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews

I had started to write a review of this album based on one listen, but we all know that to write a proper review, we need to listen to an album multiple times to allow it to soak in. Upon listening to the new Falconer album a second time, I feel differently about it than I did upon listening to it initially. It all has to do with changing my feeling about the predictability of the album.

I have to remind myself that it's extremely hard to do something original in this day and age and if bands replicate things they've previously done, should we fault them for that? No, I don't think so, especially when it's bands that have their own trademark sound.

I've listened to many metal bands in my time and I've never heard a band that sounds like Falconer except Falconer. The melodic elements they use in their music are basically unparalleled in other bands that attempt to play this style. Their use of melody in their choruses are of the kind that get stuck in your head for hours (remember the first time you heard 'Emotional Skies?'). Even though some of the guitarwork may sound a bit run-of-the-mill, all of the guitar melodies that highlight the songs sound like Falconer melodies through-and-through. I should say that they sound like Stefan Weinerhall's melodies, as he wrote all of the music and lyrics to this opus. His songwriting skill is the type that we songwriters envy, to actually be able to compose music that sounds like his own. He has achieved this and what an accomplishment to have as a musician and composer.

Back to the album: the vocal performance is nothing short of stunning. Welcome back Mathias Blad, delivering an inspiring vocal performance throughout the album. A couple of places the vocals should've been brought higher in the mix for his lower range, but just his voice with the music is magical. The stand-out tracks are really all of them! There are little intricacies thrown into each song to make them their own, like the use of a harpsichord on "Legend and the Lore" and the other nuances like their use of keyboards and acoustic guitar and mandolin, all brilliantly placed in their proper places.

I must admit, I really focused on how predictable the album was the first time I listened to it. The second time, however, I focused more on the songs as a whole and have completely enjoyed the second listen. Please come to the United States, Falconer!! We need true metal to come and lay waste to a lot of this uninspired bandwagon-hopping we have going on right now in the metal scene.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular, September 30, 2006

By	DANIEL DELUCIE "dan38628" (Rolling Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Northwind (Audio CD)

This is a KILLER CD and a worthy follow up to the 1st album ( I skipped the ones in between). I love the 1st CD and this is perhaps even better. Great songwriting, great melodic hooks, innovative riffing, high energy, cool lyrics and superb vocals. Worthy of purchase.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adios, Gobel!, December 8, 2006

By	Analog "Evil_Spud_Boy" (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews

Thank all that is holy that Blad is now back on vocals. I couldn't think of a better move the band could have made. When Kristoffer Gobel took over as lead vocalist, Falconer not only fell from my "favorite metal band" status, but I could barely even listen to them anymore. In fact, they should have changed their name all together, because Falconer they were no longer. Now for Northwind---obviously a huge, huge factor in my love of this album is Mathias Blad, a man gifted with one of the most beautiful voices metal has known. Although I don't like Scepter of Deception or Grime vs. Grandeur, I still own them both, and I would say that Northwind combines early Blad Falconer with Gobel Falconer. Not quite as medieval/renaissance as Chapters, with a lot more straight foreward metal like the Gobel years. Although Weinerhall is no longer the only guitarist, Jimmy Hedlund is quite the shredder, and I enjoy his solos tremendously. I do not like this album near as much as their self titled debut or Chapters, but it is still quite good. I am just very thankful that Blad is back. I would recommend this to fans of both Falconer periods, since it combines the best of those times.