Falconer
The Sceptre of Deception

THE REVIEW

Third effort for the Swedish band Falconer, this time without Mathias Blad. In his place is Kristofer Gobbel, who proves to be a suitable replacement; much more versatile, he can mirror Blad's style or sensibly depart from it, showcasing more anger when required.
Musically, this album continues the journey started with the two previous works, moving in a territory that spans from power to epic, passing through folk. Listening to the CD, you will indeed encounter more power tracks, like the opener "The Coronation", a very compelling and catchy piece, or "Hooves Over Northland", one of the most solid tracks of the entire work. Then there are folk pieces, such as "Night Of Infamy" (which starts well and ends so-so), purely epic pieces, "Under The Sword" and "Hear Me Pray", and tracks that show influences from all the aforementioned genres. In this latter category, Falconer places two masterpieces like "Trail Of Flames" and the title track, where bursts of double bass are accompanied by delicate acoustic guitar phrases.
A very good album whose only flaw is the lack of immediacy of some tracks, and which sees Falconer as a welcomed confirmation of the global power scene.