Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Falkenbach - Ok nefna tysvar ty (2003)

The horn that announces the opening of this album promises a traditional viking affair full of folk elements and historic melodies and this is in the main what Falkenbach deliver on Ok nefna tysvar ty.  Retaining a good balance of riffs and more traditional sounding folk instrumentation, Vratyas Vakyas delivers his one-man band show again covering all instruments and vocals over the seven tracks.  Undoubtedly a talented chap he weaves a simple and almost catchy sound that fills the room nicely as you progress through the album.

The main problem for me is the vocal delivery.  It is very monotonous and lacks any variety whatsoever.  As a result tracks pretty soon start to sound the same and I find my myself losing interest in most of the verses, with only the instrumentation to pull me back in when it takes front seat.  Now, I am not expecting death growls or black metal vocals at any point and I do understand the vocal style more than fits the aesthetic but it does bore me at times.

The saving grace as I mention is the instrumentation.  Whilst I don't profess to know every instrument on here I do recognise that I am listening to a skilled musician who can write endearing and memorable songs, embellishing intros with occasional drama and atmospherics to build the sense of storytelling nicely and provide some variety at least.  The album artwork compliments the music in this regard; there is an etherealness to the sound here yet also a sense of the epic as the artwork suggests.

Whilst I may not entirely get on with the album, I cannot dismiss it as being poor in all honesty, I just wanted a little more variety to it.  Perhaps in my less restless moments my opinion of the record would be even more positive but as it stands it's a solid 3 from me.