Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty
[Napalm Records]

Epic. If I could use one word to describe Falkenbach's new album "Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty", it would simply be "Epic". The music on this album is so all-encompassing, so sweeping and moving, that it is hard for me to find words to describe it.

Maybe it is due to the fact that Vratyas Vokyas (guitars, vocals, synths, bass and Falkenbach's founding member. He also owns and runs Skaldic Art) has enlisted help of other musicians this time around instead of trying to run the whole show by himself. Falkenbach's first two albums were completely a one musician ordeal with Vraytyas Vokyas handling all instruments and vocals. "Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty" sees him enlisting the help of Boltthorn on drums, Hagalaz on additional acoustic guitars and Tyrann on additional backing vocals, while he takes care of the rest. I'm sure the additional musicians is a leading factor to what makes this new album seem so complete and grandiose. Falkenbach's first two albums were also both hugely epic masterpieces, but this album just goes above and beyond those two by leaps and bounds.

One thing the listener will notice if they are familiar with this German bands' first two albums "...In Their Medh Riki Fara..." and "...Magni Blandinn Ok Megentiri...", is that "Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty" is not nearly as heavy metal-wise. It surely can be classified as metal, but the metal parts are more subdued and the electric guitars are more in the background than ever before in their music. That being said, a more orchestral folk sound takes up the space left by some of the metal being gone, and I am pleased with the tradeoff. The music has that slower Viking Metal epic feel for ninety percent of the album, but in a few spots they will evolve their sound into a more Black Metal-esque style. As with all of their albums, this one is also layered with a lot of synthesizer parts. And I mean A LOT! Some people may be turned off by the sounds of that but believe me, it works! I usually don't like bands that use a lot of keyboards/synth, especially Folk and Viking Metal bands that use them to try and recreate the sounds of traditional instruments, but Falkenbach are masters with the synth. I honestly have never heard another band that incorporates a synth so well into their music. When you hear the synth, it sounds natural and sounds like it is supposed to be there. Another instrument that is used a lot on the album is the acoustic guitar. It is used on nearly ever track, and the tracks it is used on, it is used as a main instrument and not as an accompanying instrument. It really adds an extra air of folkiness to their sound, and quite frankly is one of my favorite aspects of the album. Acoustic guitars sound great played alongside metal if it is done in the correct manner and played by a professional musician, and Falkenbach definitely fit into the professional category. All of the musical elements come together to make a sound that is a delight to listen to. At times, it created an emotion in me that made me feel a bit like I was in Viking times, and it is so ominous and dark sounding that, crazy as it may seem, made me feel like I was about to die. Yep, there are no happy/bouncy jigs or drinking sing along style songs on here to be found that will put a smile on your face. Just mightily epic and dark music that must be heard to be believed and fully appreciated. The band also gets a big plus in my book for adding some excellent sound samples like waves crashing against the shorelines, birds singing and horses galloping by going from one speaker to the other. These sound samples are used in just the right places, and are never overused at all. Overuse of such sound samples can come off as boring and ridiculous.

The production is top notch, with no noticeable tape hiss or loss of fidelity from the transfer from its recording source to CD. All the cymbals sound crystal clear while the bassier parts come through equally clear as well. It really is amazing how great the production is on this album taking into account the wide range of sounds found on it. Everything is also mixed superbly with no one instrument taking precedence or overpowering the other.

The lyrics are written and sung in English, which I'm sure will make those that refuse to by an album just because the lyrics aren't in English happy. Personally, as long as the music is good, I could care less what the language of the lyrics is written and sung in. In fact at times, I think it adds a bit of mysticism to the music if I am unable to understand the lyrics. But I guess it is nice to be able to comprehend what a band is trying to convey in their lyrics. The vocals for the most part are in a Viking choir-like style that is almost hymnal in nature and it just adds yet one more layer to their overall epic sound. From time to time though, the vocals will morph from the more clean style to a sort of black metal roar with seemingly no transformation of style noticed by the listener. Very few bands can achieve this switch from one vocal style to another without grabbing the listeners attention, and Falkenbach deserves credit for this. The lyrical theme touches on various well known Nordic mythology topics such as the bands passion for nature, Odin and Valkyries, etc. That might sound awfully cliché, but it is written about in a very articulate and mature way and doesn't come across as childish. You can tell by reading the lyrics the band has studied about these things and that they are extremely passionate about their ancestors and their long forgotten way of life.

The digi-pak's packaging is extremely well done, although I wish they would have put the image that is on the cover of the lyric book on the cover of the digi-pak instead. The cover of the digi-pak is very bland with just the Falkenbach logo done in gold set on a plain black background. The cover of the lyric book however, is an entirely different matter. There is no credit listed on the album telling who the artist is, but by the looks of it the painting is probably very old. Like the albums' music, the artwork here is very dark depicting a rocky shoreline at nighttime with a longboat beached there and a small campfire burning along the waters' edge. If one looks close enough, you can pick out what appears to be someone standing not too far from the fire. It is meticulously detailed and well done.I wish I knew the artists' name so I could give them the credit they deserve for creating such a fine piece of art. The regular CD version of this album has this art gracing its cover, and I wish that was the case with the digi-pak version as well. But it's a small complaint as anyone that gets the dig-pak can still see that art on the lyric books front page anyhow.

Simply put, "Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty" is a masterpiece and easily Falkenbach's best release to date. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys monumental music of any kind, whether it happens to be metal or not. If you are an old fan of the band and are turned off by the fact that this album is less metal than their previous efforts, or if you are a newcomer to the band and find the heavy use of synths hard to accept, you'd really be missing out on something great if you didn't give this album a chance just because of those petty reasons. It is now close to the end of the year, and I can pretty much guarantee that this excellent and moving Viking Metal album will rank somewhere in my top five favorite albums of the year. Up until a year or so ago, I thought Falkenbach had disbanded because I hadn't heard anything from them in such a long time. It's nice to know that they are still around and have finally released a new album after such a long absence. It's been six years between the release of their last album and this new album. That's a long time, but well worth the wait. Let's hope we don't have to wait another six for the next one to materialize!