Falkenbach

Falkenbach - German Viking/Black/Folk Metal band

Group from Germany

Genres: viking metal, folk metal, black metal, pagan metal, german

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About Falkenbach

Falkenbach is a German viking and pagan metal project. The project has one permanent member, Vratyas Vakyas (real name Markus Tümmers), who was born in Germany and lived in Iceland in the late 1980s. Falkenbach is often regarded as one of the early projects associated with the development of viking metal, with its origins traced back to 1989, when its first demo material was recorded. Falkenbach was among the early German acts associated with what later became known as pagan metal. The project was initiated in Iceland in 1989 with the recording of the "Hávamál" demo. Over the following years, additional demo recordings were produced, with a total of seven reportedly recorded, although only five are widely known. By 1995, three further demos had been released: "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"). Except for "Læknishendr", these releases were reportedly produced in very limited quantities of around nine copies each. In 1995, work began on a debut album titled "Fireblade", but the recording process was halted shortly before mixing due to technical problems, and the album was ultimately not released. Later that year, recording began for "...En their medh ríki fara..." (Old Norse, "...And in Glory Will They Go..."), which became the project’s first official album. Recording was completed in March 1996. The album artwork features an illustration of the Wild Hunt by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine, originally created for Wilhelm Wägner’s Nordisch-germanische Götter und Helden (1882). This visual theme placed Falkenbach within a broader tradition in metal music that references the Wild Hunt motif, previously used notably by Bathory on "Blood Fire Death" (1988). Following the release of "...Magni blandinn ok megintiri..." (Old Norse, "Mixed with Strength and Pride Glory"), Vakyas paused musical activity in order to focus on his record label Skaldic Art Productions. In 2003, Vakyas returned to the studio accompanied by three other musicians to record "Ok nefna tysvar Ty" (Old Norse, "And Name Twice Týr"). The subsequent album, "Heralding – The Fireblade", was recorded in August and September 2005 using the same session musicians. It included material originally intended for the unreleased "Fireblade" album as well as reworked versions of earlier demo material. In 2006, Skaldic Art Productions released a tribute compilation titled "An Homage to Falkenbach", consisting of two parts limited to 500 copies each. The release featured 16 cover versions by various artists, including Eluveitie, Folkearth, and Bewitched. Vakyas, the sole permanent member of Falkenbach, lives in Düsseldorf, Germany. Falkenbach’s early demo "Hávamál" is described as having been oriented toward clean folk music, while later material developed a harsher sound influenced by black metal before evolving into a more epic metal style. The majority of Falkenbach’s lyrics are in English, though Old Norse, Latin, and Old High German are also used. Many of the Old Norse lyrics are derived from historical heathen texts. For example, the chorus of the song "Donar's Oak" is based on verses four and five of "Grímnismál", a poem from the Elder Edda. The "Hávamál" demo is also named after a poem from the same collection. According to Vakyas, Falkenbach differs from bands such as Bathory in that its music is intended to reflect a form of pagan religiosity. He describes his interpretation of paganism as animistic, involving a worldview that rejects a strict separation between humans and the external world. Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkenbach Studio albums ...En their medh ríki fara... ("And They Go With Power", 1996) ...Magni blandinn ok megintiri... ("Blended Strength and Great Fame", 1998) Ok nefna tysvar Ty ("And Name Ty Twice", 2003) Heralding – The Fireblade (2005) Tiurida (2011) Asa (2013)

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