Tra i migliori gruppi della scena black/folk, Falkenbach merita un posto d'onore: questa one-man band dell'islandese Vratyas Vakyas è diventata col passare del tempo una band di culto per l'intero movimento, grazie sia alla loro sublime proposta musicale che al fatto di essere assolutamente sconosciuti alla maggior parte dei fruitori metal.
L'album in questione, uscito nel 1996, è il primo lavoro del gruppo e rappresenta, a parere di chi scrive, il punto più alto della loro carriera. La peculiarità dell'album sta nel fatto di non poter essere classificato nè conpletamente black, nè folk e nè viking, ma in ogni canzone si passa da una costruzione all'altra in modo fluido e mai scontato. "Galdralag" si apre con il suono di un cavallo in corsa, a cui segue il violento riff tipicamente black e la selvaggia voce in scream di Vratyas, ma, come già detto, la struttura della canzone non è fissa, grazie a rallentamenti resi epici dalle tastiere e progressioni viking. Segue il capolavoro "Heathenpride", suddivisa in 3 parti: una prima con le chitarre e il flauto in evidenza, in cui si racconta dell'arrivo dei cristiani in un'isola del nord e delle loro razzie, la seconda, black al 100%, rappresenta il momento dell'attacco dei pagani e del massacro dei cristiani, l'ultima è invece strumentale con un assolo di flauto di oltre 3 minuti. "Laeknishendr" possiede degli influssi quasi ulveriani, ma anche in questo brano il flauto e soprattutto le chitarre "spagnole" rendono l'atmosfera magica ed evocativa. In "Ultima Thule" c'è da segnalare il continuo alternarsi di scream e voci pulite e la presenza contemporanea di arpeggi acusti e black. Nello strumentale "Asum Ok Alfum Naer" domina il flauto di Pan e anche all'arrembante chitarra è imposto di adeguarsi. "Winternight" è un brano black melodico old-school in cui lo scream raggiunge il livello massimo di glacialità; chiude "...Into the Ardent Awaited Land..." il brano più calmo (si fa per dire ) e folk e dal forte contenuto pagano.
A questo capolavoro seguirà dopo un anno "Magni Blandinn Ok Megintiri", dopo di che la carriera di Vratyas si fermerà per 8 anni prima del ritorno sulla scena 3 anni fa.
Elenco tracce testi e video
02 Heathenpride (08:39)
Once a mighty king ruled in a northern land
his enemies he fought with steel and iron hand.
So many tales were told, his name a glorious sound,
"god-like he is" they said, and by no christian laws was
bound.
Long ago in a northern land...
One day they came across the nordic sea,
the man of the cross and camped beside a tree
which was called a sacred one for all thy heathen hearts,
where sacrifices were given to their northern forefathers
Gods...
The elder and wise men amongst them
watched distrustful to all those
of the foreign men with their swords in hand
.. and the mighty tree was felled...
Some days gone by and the elder men disappointed,
they found a grave with a wooden cross upon.
So they all gathered at a place near the sea at night,
they all sat around their king, and a campfire gave it's
light...
First words were spoken by a maiden of great beauty,
she whispered silent words to Freya and began to speak.
Her iceblue eyes filled with tears as she told them all what
happened
in the woods three days ago when two christian men raped
her body...
Many people told what happened and what was done by the
christian men;
a girl was burned and three farmers died, nine children were
never seen again...
The king drew his sword and saddled his black horse,
they gave a sacrifice to Odin and to Tor, the Gods of their
war,
that might before the morning of...
REVENGE!!!
The stars were shining from a dark black sky,
their swords reflected the light of the moon,
their torches burned red, the flames blazed up high,
the hour of their raid will come soon...
REVENGE!!!
As the sun at last arose crimson, beyond the nordic sea,
they all stood in armour, with helmet and sword,
and with certainty of what was forever will be...
.. a furore normannorum libera nos domine...
The bells of the christian churches tolled,
woke them up so much to late,
two ravens high above watched this bloody deeds
when the steel becomes their fate...
After hours the most of the christian men
by the northmen all were slayed,
the sun high above was shining bright
that day of heathenpride...
03 Laeknishendr (06:13)
Se hon valkyrjur
"Heill dagr.
Heilir dags synir.
Heil nótt ok nift.
Óreiðum augum
lítið okkr þinig
ok gefið sitjöndum sigr."
"Heilir æsir.
Heilar ásynjur.
Heil sjá in fjölnýta fold.
Mál ok mannvit
gefið okkr mærum tveim
ok læknishendr, meðan lifum"
[ Taken from Sigrdrífumál, verses 4 and 5 ]
[English translation:]
"Hail, day!
Hail, sons of day!
And night and her daughter now!
Look on us here
with loving eyes,
That waiting we victory win."
"Hail to the gods!
Ye goddesses, hail,
And all the generous earth!
Give to us wisdom
and goodly speech,
And healing hands, life-long."
06 Winternight (04:22)
Sunset beyond a grey vast forest,
I'm longing for the night
to break into the woods and darkness
then will be my light.
.. beginning of my wandering
through coldness and grim ice,
to find the one I'm searching for
before the sun again will rise...
Fire - burns down the christian houses
and shows me the way with it's light,
my ancestors are with me on this wandering
into this darkest winternight...
Following the foodsteps
no snowflake will efface,
a northern breeze beckons my body
and northern snow my face...
I feel he gets nearer to me,
a lightning strikes with pride,
the thunder roars, the trees now rush,
I sense my master is not wide...
Thors hammer - in chains around my neck,
an ancient wisdom deep inside,
my blood flows wild now through my veins
while my wandering through this darkest
winternight...
A lifetime I have been in search
for what the elder ones have told me,
for strongness and the truth,
for blood and victory...
But now the time for me has come,
no way to find back home,
the snow begins to burry me,
but I'm no longer now allone...
My sword tears my breast,
I'm spilling my own blood...
The last on this world so I saw
was the beckoning of my
God...Winternight...
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