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April 2024

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Falconer: Among Beggars And Thieves

Power Metal

Rating: 2.25/5.0

www.falconermusic.com
Metal Blade
www.myspace.com/falconermusic

With the multitude of power metal bands out there these days, many try to add something a little different to separate themselves from the pack. Falconer's twist is adding folk elements to their music. Although not the first metal band with the idea, they have to be one of the fastest to attempt the merger between metal and folk. 'Among Beggars And Thieves' is their latest effort and sixth overall album.

Falconer is a talented band and in fact all points for this review are based on musicianship. Unfortunately for this Swedish five-piece it takes more than talent to make a good album. In a nutshell, 'Among Beggars And Thieves,' as well as their five earlier albums, just does not work. Part of the problem is that folk music just doesn't work with metal that is as fast as Falconer plays. The result are songs like 'A Beggar Hero' and 'Mountain Men' that sound more like the theme song for a Saturday morning cartoon about fairies and unicorns than something you should hear on a metal album. More importantly the vocals aren't sufficient for these tunes. Mathias Blad would be better off becoming a straight folk singer and leaving metal alone. His midrange, monotone delivery just isn't powerful enough to pull this off. And the choir-like backing vocals, although subtle, soften up the sound even more which is something Falconer just can't afford.

There's no need to go into a lot more detail here. Basically, if you are a die-hard Falconer fan or the only thing you will listen to is European power metal then you might want to pick up 'Among Beggars And Thieves.' If you don't fall into either of those categories you'd be better off going with one of the countless bands that do power metal or folk better than these guys.
  - Tim Carroll

If you are a die-hard Falconer fan or the only thing you will listen to is European power metal then you might want to pick up 'Among Beggars And Thieves.' If you don't fall into either of those categories you'd be better off going with one of the countless bands that do power metal or folk better than these guys.

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Three years have passed since Sweden's Cruzh dropped their second long-player, Tropical Thunder, also introducing their new singer, Alex Waghorn. Now the band returns with The Jungle Revolution ... [ Read More ]