"...A soft breeze rustled the leaves of the forest's canopy as night began to fall. A man, called Shamgar by some, wandered along a hunter's trail, almost overgrown by the forest's lush undergrowth, the sound of his footsteps muffled by the thick carpet of pine needles and leaves underfoot. Shamgar carried a falcon, named Slechtvalk, on one leather-gloved wrist. A small leather hood covered the bird's head, and although it could not see, its sensitive hearing still detected the distant call of an owl on the wind. At times, Shamgar stopped to calm the anxious falcon, caressing its feathers with one callused hand, murmuring soft words..." Thus begins the tale that sets the stage for this haunting album. One cannot help but love the sweeping orchestral arrangements that are dynamically bombasted by a furious black metal attack. From the beautiful artwork by Little Rose's Manu Lehtinen to each well crafted note played on the piano to the multi-effected vocals, everything here is beautiful . . . beautifully intense. Available at a myriad of mail-order places (Rad Rockers, Rowe Productions, Nascent Frost Productions, Cross Rhythms Music), so you can already tell there's a demand.
Other coverage for this album
Art for the Ears 2000Reviewed by Marco PovervestSlechtvalk is the Dutch name of a certain falcon. To be precise, the Falco Peregrinus. A book I consulted says "no other bird of prey strikes its victims so much into fear, has such a raging speed and kills in such an advanced and fast manner". So, the Slechtvalk is a bird of extremes. Shamgar, mastermind behind Slechtvalk, was apparently inspired by this bird to name his latest project…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by D_ListerThere seem to be two sides to the black metal fence. Many people pick a side and then argue quite intensely that they are on the right side and those on the other side are wrong. (Ever read the Dr. Seuss book called The Butter Battle Book?) Those sides are simply put extreme or raw black metal and atmospheric black metal. The major difference is the reliance on keyboards or not. With Slechtvalk,…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by GrindboyI wasn't sure what to expect with this album, but I took Sorg's recommendation and am quite pleased! Combine Kekal's aggression and (very well programmed) drum machine with very Antestor-ish vocals and keys with the "plunk out a melody" philosophy heard on Lengsel's Stille Dualisme, for example, and that should be a decent description of the Slechtvalk sound. The keys do from time to time take on…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by SORGThis is an amazing release from the Dutch black metal band Slechtvalk! Falconry is a cd that is sure to stay in my disc changer for a long time to come! The overall style is "symphonic" or "atmospheric" black metal similar to bands like Antestor or Dimmu Borgir. The music is mostly mid-paced (with a couple of fast songs) and quite dark sounding. Slechtvalk mastermind Shamgar plays all the…Similar sounding releases
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1998AntestorThe Return of the Black Death
