Falconer
"Chapters from a Vale Forlorn "
(Metal Blade) 

This is the second CD from this power metal band. I liked their first CD and I like this one, or at least, most of it. The reason why I like this CD is that Swedish Prog-rockers Falconer uses lots of Medieval influences in their music. Some of their songs sound like melodies that would be sung in a great castle banquet hall, performed by court musicians hoping to please their king. The songs I don't care for are the ones that sound more like traditional happy-go-luck power metal. You know what I mean, the "let's go fight and kill" songs, all done with a smile on their shiny faces and a song in their hearts. Metal should never be happy; it is not meant to be happy. Falconer succeed with they forget the Hammerfall-type, giggly tunes. Andy La Rocque plays lead guitar on "Busted to the Floor" and Sabine Daniels plays flute on a few of the songs, all of which I like.

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