Weekly Falconer

Sorry I missed my Tuesday post. I have no excuse, except it's been a busy week and I forgot. So here's your Friday post instead, and once again, it is in celebration of Falconer. It is only two weeks now until I get to see them live at ProgPower USA. My outfit (as their performance falls on Corset Night) is complete, my friend from Austria who will be sharing this experience with me is about to get on a plane for the United States in a mere two days, and soon, packing of my own luggage will begin. As it draws nearer and nearer, it becomes harder to believe; especially when I realize how much money I spent on it. Between buying ProgPower tickets, reserving a hotel room, and paying for my flight, this is a very expensive trip all to see one band live. But worth every penny? Hell yes, it will be.

Today, we celebrate Falconer with my favorite song of theirs. It was Mathias Blad's vocals that got me into Falconer, but this song is one in which I feel the instruments are more impressive than the vocals. The riffs in this song have made it one of my all-time favorites. Every time it comes up on shuffle, I do a little happy dance in my mind. This is Herr Peder Och Hans Syster, from the 2011 album Armod, which features a real brother-sister singing team, Mathias and Heléne Blad.

As a bonus, I'm also sharing a car commercial that featured this song. Yes, a car commercial. That featured Falconer. This commercial blew every Falconer fan's mind when we first found out about it... and also let every Falconer fan down when we got to actually see it. While it's awesome that their song was used (and my favorite song at that!), it's comical, to say the least, that they chose the actors they did to fill in for the band members. I understand why the actual band couldn't be in the video, but whoever cast the roles clearly did not do their research, as the band in the commercial, particularly the vocalist, couldn't look less accurate. A long-haired, headbanging vocalist? Nope, definitely not the Mathias Blad we know. And that's part of his charm. But at least they got the logo right, and chose a badass song.

Bi-Weekly Falconer Post

I'm a little late, as I had a very long night and was out late -- went to see a production of Gypsy that included two of my actor friends, and then had a late-night dinner with some of the cast members after the show. As a result, it is now 5:00 on Saturday morning. Who says musical theatre people don't know how to party? Anyway, since I haven't gone to bed yet, it is still Friday in my mind, and that means that it is exactly three weeks until ProgPower USA. Technically 20 days now, 'cause, you know, Saturday. But hey, 20 days is even better.

Because it's so late, and I do require some amount of sleep (thank goodness I don't have to work tomorrow), this entry will be short and to the point. The following is an example of why I cannot wait for the 11th to come around. This is just a video, and it has awful sound quality at that, but I'm still in a fit of ecstasy over the first song. That voice! After all these years I will finally hear him sing live. I especially can't wait for this song. Musically it isn't necessarily one of my favorites, but it showcases his voice so well... and that little vocal breakdown that occurs not once, but twice, has always been one of my favorite moments. I could listen to it over and over. Despite the horrible quality of this video, I have already listened to it several times, picturing how much more amazing it will be in person. Did I mention I'm really looking forward to this show?

Weekly Falconer Post

This week's pre-show Falconer post (leading up to ProgPower) consists of two music videos. First off, we have Falconer's first music video from 2005. Hopefully the band will have no hard feelings against me for posting this because it's quite a laughable video, and not intentionally. It was obviously very low-budget, and let's be honest, the video didn't turn out well at all. If I remember correctly, Stefan Weinerhall stated, before the video was even officially released, that it looked dumb and he was unhappy with it. Between the makeup, the staged headbanging and the horrible acting of the female lip-syncher who appears out of nowhere at the end (and isn't even the actual vocalist), this video is just plain bad.

That being said, I do like the song and its anthem-esque chorus. I would love if it, somehow, they decided to throw this into their set at ProgPower. With Mathias Blad singing it for what I believe would be the first time, and the crowd singing along with that chorus, it would make a fantastic farewell song for their final live show.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the video for Emotional Skies, from their 2005 album Grime Vs. Grandeur, featuring Kristoffer Göbel on vocals.

Now, to show what Falconer is capable of when they have a bit more of a budget... their awesome 2008 video for Carnival of Disgust, from the album Among Beggars and Thieves. A lot changed in 3 years, including the switch back to their original vocalist, Mathias Blad. Though the change in vocalist had nothing to do with the quality of their music videos, it did change the entire tone of the music when they brought him back. Check out the little vocal epilogue at the end of this video.

Tystnaden

Tystnaden is a band from Italy that I discovered several years ago. Though they've been around since 1999, it seems they've never achieved any significant amount of recognition, to the point that they don't even have an entry on Wikipedia and when I type their name into YouTube the first thing that comes up is a Swedish movie from 1963. In fact, I believe the band was named after this movie, if I remember correctly. Though the band is Italian, the word 'tystnaden' is not - it is actually Swedish for 'silence'

This isn't a band I've followed very loyally over the years. In fact, I didn't even know until just now that vocalist Laura De Luca left the band, which apparently happened a couple of years back. Laura was the vocalist on all of their album releases, but their Facebook page now has a ton of photos of new vocalist Giada Etro, who seems to have been performing live with the band as far back as 2013. That's what I get for not paying attention. That being said, I can't offer any opinions on Giada's vocals, as I've never heard her sing. Laura, on the other hand, had a very distinct voice and accent. The accent was a little strong for me, as it seemed she didn't actually speak English that well (and all of their lyrics are in English) but I do think she is a quality vocalist and can't be faulted for her accent. I can only imagine how horrible my accent would sound if I attempted to sing in Italian!

Anyway their music has been a bit hit-or-miss with me, but they do have several songs that I think are fantastic. They are touted as gothic metal, but some of their music is a bit too nu-metal sounding for my taste. However, not all of it is. I think that fans of bands like Epica and Lacuna Coil might like Tystnaden as well -- if they are fond of clean female vocals mixed with male grunty/growly vocals.

One thing that I really like in their music is how certain songs have very obvious Italian elements. One of the cool things about metal bands existing all over the world is when bands include elements of their country's traditional music in their metal.

Here are a few Tystnaden songs I really like. The first is a beautiful ballad that really speaks to me musically and lyrically. The other two are just really cool metal songs that also feature those Italian-sounding elements I spoke of.

One month until FALCONER

Back in September of last year, I made this post in a fit of ecstasy. I had just heard the announcement that Falconer would be performing their final live show at the ProgPower USA festival on September 11, 2015. This was huge news to me because Falconer's vocalist, Mathias Blad, is my all-time favorite singer, and I had been under the impression that I would never, ever have a chance to see them live. This is a mostly studio band who have performed only a handful of live concerts in their 15 years together. Of that handful, the majority took place during the short time Kristoffer Göbel was their lead vocalist instead of Mathias, who is unable to commit to touring due to his full-time job as a musical theatre actor. And of all the shows they've ever done, only one of them had been in the United States; it was 12 years ago and Kristoffer was vocalist at that time.

For all of these reasons, I, an American Falconite, thought that my chances of seeing Mathias live with Falconer were just about on par with my chances of seeing Elvis Presley. Until that day last year, I viewed it as so improbable that even putting it on my Bucket List would have been pointless. (Yes, I have a real Bucket List, and it does include attending certain concerts.) Plus, not only would this be their first and last show in the United States with Mathias, but their last live show ever; after this night, Falconer will continue as a strictly-studio band. This was literally a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and I vowed that I would be there no matter what. Even though I had just made a move across the country and hadn't found a job yet, even though I would have to travel 2,000 miles to the concert venue, the question of "How can I make this happen?" never even entered my mind. I went straight into "I'm going to see Falconer" territory and never looked back. It was a blissful moment in which a halo of light surrounded me and a choir sang one heavenly note. I bought my ticket minutes after they went on sale (and they sold out within 6 days).

Now, only one month remains until that glorious day. An entire year of anticipation will come to an end in one monumental night.

Over the next month, many of the posts on this blog will be related to Falconer and ProgPower, to chronicle my preparation and journey toward one of the best musical nights of my life.

For now, I leave you with one of the most rare and beautiful Falconer songs: their 2006 remake of "Child of the Wild." This song was originally recorded with Kristoffer Göbel on their 2005 album, Grime vs. Grandeur. The following year, after Göbel had been fired and Mathias Blad had returned to the band, the song was re-recorded for their album Northwind. However, it was only released as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of the album. For the band's 15th anniversary, band leader Stefan Weinerhall was kind enough to upload the track to YouTube for all of us. Thanks, Stefan - for everything.

Hysterica's First Video - Lock Up Your Son

After ten years, two full-length albums and one EP, badass metal chicks Hysterica have finally released their first music video.

I love this band. Their first album was good, but their second one is one of my favorite albums. Almost every song on it is solid, one of those albums I can listen to all the way through without skipping anything. I appreciate that their music seems to incorporate several different subgenres of metal: power, doom, death, etc. but overall, it is just pure, unadulterated metal. I feel the same about their vocalist. She has some pretty impressive pipes, and I like that she just gets out there and sings her heart out. It sometimes seems like there are only two types of female singers in metal anymore: the "operatic" female voice and the "death growl" voice. This chick is just a metal singer who gives it her all.

When they announced last year or so that they had signed with a new label, I was hoping that something like this would happen. And I hope that they continue to move forward and receive the recognition they deserve. They have only released a 5-song EP on the new label so far, but the future is promising.

Hysterica seems to be continuing down the path of awesomeness with their new single, Lock Up Your Son, which has now been released as their first ever music video. It's a pretty straight-forward video, but I love the song!

Back From Hiatus + OOMPH!'s new video

The Queen of Thunder is back! I apologize for my extended absence. As an experimental blog that I've never really advertised and that doesn't have many readers, I tend to forget that it exists sometimes. But I want to put an end to that.

To avoid losing my mind, I recently went from working full-time to only working two days a week. The rest of my time I am using to focus on things that are more important to me, such as music and writing (and volunteer work and going to the gym). As part of this dedication to creative and enjoyable tasks, I'd like to breathe new life into this blog -- and not just today, but on a regular basis from this point on.

So I'd like to announce that I will now be updating this blog, in one form or another, EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY. These posts can be in-depth reviews or simply a YouTube link to song I'm enjoying at that time. But one way or another, I will be updating twice a week at the minimum. Posts may be made in between these days as well, as needed. Additionally, to show that metalheads can have other musical interests as well, I will begin doing one non-metal post every month. You will never see me post hiphop or country, as these are my mortal enemies -- but songs and articles I share may encompass a variety of other genres, such as oldies, jazz, classical, musical theatre, or whatever else strikes my fancy that month. Don't worry, each non-metal post I make will probably be accompanied by a metal post made on the same day.

I may include a lot of Neue Deutsche Härte and even some of the heavier darkwave stuff in my definition of metal. Today I'd like to share Oomph!'s new music video, Alles aus Liebe. As you may know, I am a huge Oomph! fan. I include them in my top 5 favorite bands of all time, so I'm excited for their new album, which was released only a week ago. I haven't bought the album yet, but I soon will. The first official music was released not long before the album, and it's a pretty great song.

See you on Tuesday!