Falkenbach () is a viking metal group from Germany that is signed to

Prophecy Productions Prophecy Productions is an international record label, founded in Germany by Martin Koller in 1996. It proclaims promoting "transcendental ..captivating music".

. The name means "Falconbrook" in German. They are one of the first viking metal bands, starting in 1989, with their first release that same year. The one permanent member is Vratyas Vakyas (real name Markus Tümmers) who was born in Germany, but lived in Iceland in the late 1980s.

History

Falkenbach was one of Germany's first examples of what would be labeled pagan metal.Florian Heesch, Reinhard Kopanski. 2017. "Klang - Text - Bild: Intermediale Aspekte der Black Metal-Forschung". ed. Sarah Chaker, Jakob Schermann, Nikolaus Urbanek. ''Analyzing Black Metal - Transdisziplinäre Annäherungen an ein düsteres Phänomen der Musikkultur''. Transcript Verlag. pp. 31-32. The band was formed in Iceland in 1989, when it recorded the ''Hávamál'' demo, and has recorded a total of seven demos; however, only five are known. Three more were released by 1995: ''Skínn af sverði sól valtíva'' ( Old Norse, ''"The Sun Shines on the Swords of Slaughter-Gods"''), ''Læknishendr'' (Old Norse, ''"Healing Hands"''), and ''Ásynja'' (Old Norse, ''"Goddess"''). Of all of these except ''Læknishendr'', only nine copies were released. In 1995, recording of the debut album ''Fireblade'' began, but due to equipment troubles, production was stopped shortly before mixing began. ''Fireblade'' was not released, and in December of the same year, recording began for '' ...En their medh ríki fara...'' (Old Norse, ''"...And in Glory Will They Go..."''). The recording for this actual debut album was completed in March 1996. The album cover features a part of an illustration of the Wild Hunt, made by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine for Wilhelm Wägner's ''Nordisch-germanische Götter und Helden'' (1882). With this Falkenbach placed itself within a tradition that connects metal music to the Wild Hunt motif, present since Bathory's album ''

Blood Fire Death ''Blood Fire Death'' is the fourth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Bathory. It was released on 8 October 1988, through Music for Nations sublabel, Under One Flag. The album, although mostly black metal, includes some of the first exa ...

'' (1988). After '' ...Magni blandinn ok megintiri...'' (Old Norse, ''"Mixed with Strength and Pride Glory"'') was released, Vratyas stopped recording music so he could focus more on his record label ''Skaldic Art Productions''. In 2003, Vratyas returned to the studio with three other musicians and close friends to record '' Ok nefna tysvar Ty'' (Old Norse, ''"And Name Twice Týr"''). The next ''Falkenbach album'', '' Heralding – The Fireblade'', was recorded in August–September 2005, using the same session musicians he had used for ''Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty''. It includes material originally intended for the never released ''Fireblade'' album and re-working of demo tracks. In 2006 ''Skaldic Arts Productions'' released a tribute album called ''An Homage to Falkenbach''. It consists of two parts, each limited to 500 units. The work contains 16 covers by various bands such as '' Eluveitie'', '' Folkearth'', and ''Bewitched''. Vratyas Vakyas (whose name roughly translates to "the searching wanderer"), the sole member of ''Falkenbach'', lives in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Style and lyrical themes

The ''Hávamál'' demo is allegedly clean folk music, but since then the sound has become more raw and influenced by

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

influence and matured into an epic metal sound. Most of ''Falkenbach'' lyrics are in English. They also write lyrics in Old Norse, Latin, and Old German. Most, if not all of the lyrics in Old Norse are actually taken from

heathen __NOTOC__ Heathen or Heathens may refer to: Religion *Heathen, another name for a pagan *Heathen, an adherent of Heathenry Music *Band of Heathens, a North American rock and roll band *Heathen (band), a North American thrash metal band *The Hea ...

literature: for example, the chorus lines in the song ''"Donar's Oak"'' are actually verses four and five of '' Grímnismál'', a poem of the Elder Edda. (''

Hávamál ''Hávamál'' ( ; Old Norse: ,Unnormalised spelling in the :Title: Final stanza: ../ref> classical pron. , Modern Icelandic pron. , ‘Words of he High One��) is presented as a single poem in the Icelandic , a collection of Old Norse poems fr ...

'', after which the first demo is named, is another such poem.) According to Vratyas, one thing that sets Falkenbach apart from a band such Bathory is that his music is underpinned by a

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

religiosity. Vratyas defines his approach to paganism as animistic, through which it rejects the existence of a frontier between a person and the outer world.Fabio Petrella. 4 May 2011
Interviste - Falkenbach (Vratyas Vakyas)
SpazioRock.

Discography

;Studio albums * '' ...En their medh ríki fara...'' (1996) * '' ...Magni blandinn ok megintiri...'' (1998) * '' Ok nefna tysvar Ty'' (2003) * '' Heralding – The Fireblade'' (2005) * ''

Tiurida ''Tiurida'' (meaning "Glory") is the fifth studio album by the German Viking metal band Falkenbach, released in January 2011 via Napalm Records. It was recorded with the same session musicians as the previous two Falkenbach records, Ok nefna tysvar ...

'' (2011) * ''

Asa ASA as an abbreviation or initialism may refer to: Biology and medicine * Accessible surface area of a biomolecule, accessible to a solvent * Acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin * Advanced surface ablation, refractive eye surgery * Anterior spinal ar ...

'' (2013) ;Demos * ''Hávamál'' (1989) * ''Tanfana'' (1990) * ''Towards Solens Golden Light'' (1991) * ''Promo '95'' (1995) * '' Laeknishendr'' (1995) * ''...Skínn af sverði sól valtíva...'' (1996)

Line-up

Current members

* Vratyas Vakyas - guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, drums, vocals

Session members

* Hagalaz - guitars on ''Ok nefna tysvar Ty'', ''Heralding - The Fireblade'' and ''Tiurida''. * Tyrann - vocals on ''Ok nefna tysvar Ty'', ''Heralding - The Fireblade'' and ''Tiurida''. * Boltthorn - drums on ''Ok nefna tysvar Ty'', ''Heralding - The Fireblade'' and ''Tiurida''. * Albion - bass on ''Tiurida''.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Viking metal musical groups German black metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1989 German folk metal musical groups Napalm Records artists One-man bands Modern pagan musical groups Modern paganism in Germany