Falkenbach – Tiurida (2011)

After breaking into the metal scene with a huge bang (and melody), thanks to their Viking Metal style back in 1996 with their majestic debut album “...En Their Medh Riki Fara...” Falkenbach has been constantly improving their sound until they seemed to disappear back in 2005 with “Heralding - The Fireblade”.

“Tiurida” marks their first release in 6 years and while it still has nice music, it also shows that (for us) Falkenbach is a one trick pony and can’t seem to diverge from their well defined, almost formulaic approach to the genre. We don’t argue with what the band has done in the past, but taking a 6 year break and then returning with the same old stuff makes them sound a bit dated, specially after all the better bands that started to get recognized  in the genre after 2005.

Immediately after the Intro song, we quickly identify that we are listening to Falkenbach, since “…Where His Ravens Fly…” is as close as it can get to the traditional sound of the band. We are treated with great melodic lines, clean vocals and the overall Viking sound that we all love from the band. While most of the good songs of the album are in the vein of older material from the band, there are a few songs like “Time between Dog and Wolf” and “Runes Shall You Know” that present a bit of a different style over the band’s classical sound. In “Time between Dog and Wolf” we still get a similar rhythm guitar and bass line, but the tempo is a bit different and features harsh vocals, making it an interesting song but not entirely good. “Runes Shall You Know” also features a bit of a different tempo, but still maintains the melodic aspect of Falkenbach’s greatness.

“Tanfana” is a song that will give you a total déjà vu feeling since it sounds almost identical to stuff the band’s released in the past, so it’s pretty good actually. Our favorite song has to be “In Flames”, this almost 8 minute long epic features a hefty dose of changing facades that make it very diverse and quite an interesting track. Falkenbach closes the album with “Sunnavend” a nice hymn that provides a very smooth ending track with an epic edge that will still keep you in the spirit of the album.

In general, Vratyas Vakyas the lone man behind Falkenbach has made a nice comeback with “Tiurida”. However, we think that there was need to change a bit and try to edge the new kings of the genre by creating a fresher release that would push things further, like the band did back in their earlier album. While not disappointing or bad, we expected more from “Tiurida” and instead we got another release that sounds exactly like what the band used to sound in the early 2000’s.

Release: January 28th, 2011 (Europe), February 8th, 2011 (North America)

Country: Germany