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Chapters From a Vale Forlorn is the second album from Swedish Power Metal group Falconer, released in 2002. For those unfamiliar with the band their sound also incorporates some folk influences into some of their songs, and their music is perhaps characterised the most by the voice of vocalist Mathias Blad, which is far from the typical sort of vocals that one would traditionally associate with a metal band, being one of the most pure sounding voices that I have ever heard. Chapters is the last album from Falconer while they were still a studio band, and it was also the last with Blad until 2006’s Northwind, as Blad was unable to continue with Falconer as a touring band due to his commitments to theatre, him being an actor as well as a singer. So now that the background introduction is done, let’s talk about the music.
You can spilt the songs of Falconer into two categories. The first being those that are full on power metal songs and those that incorporate the folk influences. The album starts with power metal songs, so I may as well follow suit. The first two tracks here are Decadence of Dignity and Enter the Glade. Blad’s vocals may be off-putting to a new listener at first but as you get into the feel of the album it develops what I’d consider to be a pretty addictive sound. The guitars are pretty heavy, sometimes to the point of sounding out of contrast with Blad’s vocals but this is what makes the Falconer sound unique to them. Perseverance is required to understand them, so new listeners beware. In a way there is something of a folk feel in Enter the Glade but it’s very much a power metal song. Blad’s vocal delivery often feels best suited to folk in itself, which is what helps round off that Falconer sound I keep mentioning. And in context of this band’s music this is definitely the sound of them at the top of their game, with every song the album deliveries being as good as the last.
The second category is for those songs which really delve into the folk influences. The first of these that the album gives us is the third track, Lament of a Minstrel. Flutes are very prominent in the sound of this track, which is slower than those that came before it. This is also one of my favourites from the album. For the next folksy song, We Sold Our Homesteads, the band takes it all down into real ballad territory. This is actually a traditional Swedish song, but with its lyrics translated by Blad. These songs are just as great as the full on power metal songs.
Chapters From a Vale Forlorn isn’t the longest album in the world, clocking in at just over the forty minute mark, but it’s a real treasure of an album that never loses any of its strengths throughout its duration and one of the few releases where I literally really love every single song on it. This is nothing short of perfection.
(Review originally written for Heavy Metal Haven)