Fans of Falkenbach would be forgiven for thinking it’s been a very long time since the band’s mastermind Vratyas Vakyas last produced what could be described as a ‘classic’ album. It’s was ten years ago he released Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty. Since then we’ve had Heralding – The Fireblade in 2005, which was largely a reworking of older material – even though some of it pretty much unrecognisable I must admit – and then Tiurida in 2011. Don’t get me wrong, Fireblade was a fantastic album. It was my first encounter with the band and it blew me away. But I think it’s still generally regarded as a nice stop-gap by the band’s followers while they waited for a completely new full-length. Unfortunately, the follow-up Tiurida was a bit of an anticlimax. A bit too even in temperament and not enough contrast between the airy, melodic, folky moments and the melodic, pagan black metal that Falkenbach does so well. Too much that sounded like it could have been lifted from the previous three releases, and not even especially the best bits. So much so, that I more or less parked it with a mental note to give another fair hearing when the disappointment faded a little. To be honest, I never got around to it. But, when the new single Eweroun landed in April, the old excitement was rekindled.
Eweroun is a totally captivating piece of Falkenbach. A simple folk melody with that virtually unique atmosphere that only Falkenbach, and perhaps Forefather, seem capable of creating in the pagan black metal genre. There are no fireworks, but the mood it ignites is like the warm glow of adrenaline rising. My faith was restored. But, obviously, one swallow does not a Spring make so I have been, somewhat unsuccessfully I have to say, pouring cold water on my expectations ever since. I needn’t have bothered. Asa is a return to form after the subdued Tiurida that will have all but the most militant fans of ‘early’ Falkenbach submersing themselves in Vakyas’ atmospheric, pagan world once again. Asa probably has more in common with the balance he managed to strike on Fireblade than it does with Tiurida or the ‘classic’ period. Certainly not as quirky as a track like Skirnir (a romp which includes excerpts from WH Auden’s ‘Norse Poetry’) – much more direct all round. But it brings together elements of previous works in a tightly woven nine songs with melodic black metal moments like Wulfarwejd, more folky songs like Ufirstanan Folk and the uplifting I Nattens Stilta.
The number of heavier, black metal tracks would seem to support the rumour that Falkanbach might be planning some sort of live event or even a tour at some point. Bolstering the catalogue with some new, fast, raw tracks would seem to be a good idea if that was where things are heading. But Asa is also going to require fans to let go of the past a little. It feels to me that while many fans will no doubt hark back to Magni Blandinn Ok Megintiri with its mid-tempo chanting stomps (which are here too in the form of album opener Vaer Stjernar Vaerdan) or the dreamy folk epics of Ok Nefna Tysbar Ty, Asa also looks back beyond that and to the more purely black metal En Their Medh Riki Fara. In a way, it links the history of Falkenbach through the early and classic periods to the present day. It could also be seen as a reaction to the laid back Tiurida because Asa could be described as anything but.
In fact, it’s the black metal moments that stand out as some of the best tracks. The album for me really takes hold with blazing Bronzen Embrace, the fourth track which shows Vakyas at his rhythmic, melodic best and even the clean vocals of Bluot Fuër Bluot, definitely one of the highlights, give way to another burst of black metal in the middle section. For anyone who still wants to measure Falkenbach’s worth purely by those steadily-paced, hypnotic, Viking marching songs then you might not feel like you can immediately connect to this. Then again, once you’ve thrown in the four bonus tracks the entire Falkenbach sound seems pretty fairly represented – Beloved Feral Winter especially could have easily made it onto the main release listing and is as much Falkenbach through and through as anything that did.
There was always a sombre otherworldliness in some of the older Falkenbach works that I’m not sure will ever be recaptured and may just be a product of different production values. Nothing that hits the spot quite like Towards The Hall Of Bronzen Shields from Magni…, for example. But that is not to take away the effectiveness of Vakyas’ melodies on Asa and the vision the man must have to produce a work that clearly is dragging fans down a slightly different path, as he does here, when many must still be hoping for a repeat of the good old days. After wearing (almost) all of the other releases thin with overplaying, it was always going to be a challenge to win me over on this one, but he has. Asa is an excellent piece of work that is a fine compliment to the rest of the catalogue.
The skill of Falkenbach is that he goes as far as he does down the pagan folk path but without falling into the trap of making it sound like we’ve stumbled upon a pant-swinging, Gaia worshipping festival in the Cotswolds. While too many pagan metal bands simply glue the two musical genres together in a fairly unimaginative way, Falkenbach succeeds by allowing the folk element in the music to run free and the two aspects make something bigger than the sum of their parts. It’s not really folk metal or pagan metal, its Falkenbach. No matter how many people try to draw comparisons with other artists and bands, this guy is clearly finding inspiration from outside both the metal and folk music genres to come up with such an individual sound and atmosphere. The melodies are fresh and the concept bold – this simply cannot be said for the vast majority of folk metal bands I hear on a regular basis. The more Falkenbach spreads its wings the more it emerges from the rest of the flock. Buy it, get the bonus material, give Turida a couple more spins and let’s regroup in a couple of months time when we’ve all calmed down and digested this gift from the gods properly.
(9/10 Reverend Darkstanley)
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