Review by Xephyr for Falconer - From a Dying Ember (2020)
The Rewarding, Slow Burn
It's almost poetic how From a Dying Ember slowly but surely won me over in the second half of 2020, given the circumstances surrounding it. After nine albums and an assortment of lineup changes, the band members have announced that this will be Falconer's final offering, leaving a solid cult following behind them. I'll admit that I didn't hear of Falconer before checking out this album, especially since their debut self-titled is apparently highly regarded, but after hearing this one I'm definitely going to have to fix that. While this album resides in the realm of Power Metal, they manage to have a folk leaning that is wholly unique to me, with their songwriting and inimitable vocalist impressing me to the point where I couldn't stop coming back for more.
From a Dying Ember honestly doesn't leave a very good first impression, initially sounding fairly generic and forgettable with its somewhat strange song structures and unassuming riffing. I thought it was good at first, but it wasn't until I came back to it for a few more listens that it really started to click with me. The choruses slowly started to settle themselves in my memory more and more, with "Fool's Crusade", "In Regal Attire", and "Testify" becoming tunes that I would hum completely out of the blue. Upon further inspection, this album really does have everything one would want out of a band like Falconer. Mathias Blad's silky smooth, mid-range vocals have so much character and are extremely well written, giving them such a unique flow that winds its way around the rest of the instrumentation. The Folk elements are neatly incorporated without taking over the entire sound, with the fiddles and pianos firmly playing a supportive role to the rest of the composition. Falconer also pull from their earlier, more extreme metal roots in a few tracks, with surprisingly aggressive double-bass in "Desert Dreams" and some quick but noticeable tremolo riffs in "Kings and Queens" and a full-on Black Metal-esque section in "Rapture" as a final farewell to their old band Mithotyn.
It helps that Falconer uses 3/4 and 6/8 for a good portion of tracks, with most of them having a waltz or swing feel to them. This small change really helps their songwriting to be more folky and fantastical without necessarily feeling generic. Although there are some unexpectedly heavy sections, the playful waltz feel really helps to keep the album grounded in the fantastical and folky world that Falconer excel at. Even when they find themselves in a common 4/4 time signature, the guitars or drums keep the folky, swing feel going with melodies that begin with an off-beat 8th note into an accented downbeat, which is something I began to notice more and more as I gave the album more and more listens. There are a myriad of rather hidden and layered melodies that got more and more satisfying as the months have gone on, leaving From a Dying Ember as one of the albums that has grown on me the most in quite a while.
Even though this marks the end of Falconer, I can't imagine a better album for a band in their genre to go out on. There's so much surface-level Power Metal out there, so it was a delight having these songs eventually worm their way into my memory to keep me coming back for more. The balance of heavy riffing, slow ballads, solos, and folk interludes is fantastic as well, with "Garnets and a Gilded Rose" being a great instrumental and "Rejoice the Adorned" beautifully showcasing Blad's sultry vocals. Even without prior knowledge of Falconer I can tell that these guys covered all their bases considering how many different styles there were able to cram into this album. Considering I've only given glowing praise to From a Dying Ember, I still think that it's far from a classic or anything like that, but it's undoubtedly solid through and through. It's a bit repetitive in its ideas but it builds and works around them in intelligent ways, especially with its use of slower tempo vocal and guitar melodies to go along with some strangely furious drumming. Although I have zero history with Falconer, this is a fantastic swan song that exemplifies all of their crowning characteristics as a group in an extremely rewarding collection of songs. Cheers, fellas.