The Sceptre of Deception
[Metal Blade]

The more involved I become in music, especially underground metal, the harder it becomes to keep up with all the new albums released each year that are worth supporting. One album that slipped through the cracks of doom in 2003 was Falconer's third release, "The Sceptre of Deception." I didn't even realize it had been released until a few weeks ago. As a huge fan of "Chapters from a Vale Forlorn," this was a mistake I couldn't allow. So I ordered it promptly. And once I got over the change in vocalists, I have come to the realization that this might be the band's strongest release yet. Not necessarily my favorite… but probably their tightest, their most conceptually whole, and their most unique.

The biggest difference between "The Sceptre of Deception" and the previous two Falconer albums is the vocalist; gone, for the most part, is Mathias Blad, to be replaced with Kristoffer Göbel. The entire Falconer line-up has changed, in fact, from three members to five. Only guitarist Stephan Weinerhall and drummer Karsten Larsson remain, joined by a bassist and second guitarist. But none of this has much of an effect on that tried-and-true Falconer sound. It is the alteration of lead vocalist that prevents me from giving this album a higher rating. To be totally honest, I am just so fond of Blad, I am having difficulty accepting someone else as the voice of Falconer.

Mathias Blad is here, however. "The Sceptre of Deception" is a concept album, almost a metal opera, with several characters appearing throughout the album. The story is based on Swedish history: in 1290 AD, the king of Sweden, Magnus Ladulås, passed control of the country to the Lord High Constable Torgil Knutsson, until Magnus' children were old enough to rule. What transpired after this were many years of civil war and conflict with Norway and Denmark, culminating in the death or imprisonment of Magnus' three sons, and the ascension of Magnus' grandson, Magnus Eriksson, as appointed by a council of aristocracy, bishops, and judges. Blad plays the part of Valdemar, the youngest of Magnus Ladulås' children, and appears in two songs, "The Trail of Flames" and "The Sceptre of Deception." But Göbel plays the majority of the roles through the album.

And he certainly plays them well… but Göbel sounds more like a typical power metal vocalist than Blad ever did. Stylistically, he retains what Blad started: mid-range vocals without the fireworks typical of most contemporary power metal. There are more multi-vocal choruses in "The Sceptre of Deception" than in either of the previous two Falconer albums, but it sort of fits the more epic concept of this CD. And some of the choruses are quite unique, notably those in "Pledge for Freedom" and "Ravenhair." But… I don't know. If the vocals were your least favorite aspect of Falconer to begin with, you probably won't notice that much different between "The Sceptre of Deception" and previous Falconer releases. But if you were as much of a Mathias Blad fan as I was, you may find this release to be a bit disappointing.

That's not to say that the rest of "The Sceptre of Deception" is interchangeable with every other Falconer album out there. If anything, the members of the band have gotten better. They are definitely tighter, with even sharper rhythm changes and tempo shifts. And Larsson even throws in some black metal blast beats in "Night of Infamy" (the first time I've ever heard such a percussion technique in power metal… and it works quite well, as far as I'm concerned). But this album has the same dark-edged keyboardless power metal sound that "Chapters from a Vale Forlorn" and Falconer's self-titled release featured.

So… "The Sceptre of Deception" is a great album. It's probably better than the score I am giving it in this review. I'm sorry, but I can't help but feel a little biased in regards to the new vocalist. But knowing and admitting that weakness, I find "The Sceptre of Deception" to easily be one of the better albums of 2003. If only I had gotten to it sooner. Ah well… don't make the same mistake I did. I recommend that you strongly consider adding "The Sceptre of Deception" to your next CD haul. Hopefully, you won't be disappointed.