Rockezine.com interview with Falconer on Oct 20, 2003

with Stefan Weinerhall on Oct 20, 2003


		On October 6th, your third full-length album, “The Sceptre Of Deception” will be released. Are you satisfied with the way the album turned out? Very satisfied. I think it is in some ways a mix between the two first albums, but also a step forwards. For me as the songwriter I see this one as more dramatic since the music follows the lyrics much more than before and it is a concept album. Also I think it is a bit darker or heavier than before, actually maybe the guitar sound is a bit too dark.
		The album undeniably still holds Mithotyn elements, yet the music itself is more heavy metal oriented. I think Falconer is a step forwards from that band. How do you see this change from Mithotyn to Falconer? Was it something you always wanted? It was something I wanted during the last year of Mithotyn, so after the last album was recorded and our label disappeared it gave me the push I needed to leave the band. At that time I had stopped my brief period of “brutal” metal so of course I wanted to play the music I listened too and honestly I was quite fed up with the black metal vocals. Yes, I think some traces of Mithotyn are still left, not strange really since I do the music but now I just try to make it fit into another genre but a lot of the melodies could just as well have been in Mithotyn.
		I don’t want to dwell too much on the subject Mithotyn, but in what way does that band still influence your song writing? When I listen for instance to “Under The Sword” I hear very clear Viking metal melodies, and not unlike Mithotyn. Mithotyn is nothing for me anymore, just like an old car that you sell, I just drive the new car in pretty much the same way but with other possibilities.
Mithotyn is nothing for me anymore, just like an old car that you sell, I just drive the new car in pretty much the same way but with other possibilities.		A while ago, due to scheduling problems, you had to part ways with your singer. Mathias was well liked among the Falconer fans. What do you think is the impact of his departure on your fan base, and on the band as a whole? For the band it is only good because now we can play live without any problems. For some of the fans it was a darker experience I guess. We might lose some fans and gain some. I like them both as vocalists; it`s just that Kristoffer fits better with what we want to do with the band.
		Are you satisfied with the way the vocals turned out and did the cooperation with Kristoffer go as smooth as with Mathias? We are very satisfied with how it turned out, you see it was like something new for us too and that only gave us more energy. I would say that the cooperation with Kristoffer went more smoothly in many ways because he knows what I mean with things since he listens to metal himself.
		Can you tell us a bit more about the background Kristoffer Göbel? He did and still does sing in a cover band I can`t remember the name of and in the band Destiny. Anders saw him with his cover band one night and that’s how we got in contact with him. He turned out to be a Falconer fan and auditioned for us and since he was the best man among the other guys, he got the spot.
		Also, guitarist Anders Johansson and bassist Peder Johansson were added to the band and it looks like Falconer now has a steady line-up or am I wrong? That`s right. I agree that in the beginning of Falconer it was more like a studio solo project from my side but after all gigs we`ve done with all the guys it is now like a “real” band.
		The new album is a concept album. Can you tell our readers a bit more about this concept? It’s like a Swedish kind of Macbeth but it’s a true story. It’s about 3 brothers in early 14th century. One of them becomes king, leaving the 2 brothers not too satisfied with the situation. It’s a lot of intrigue, deceit, murder and war to obtain the crown. All three of them play a dirty game but as the title says, they strife to get the sceptre of deception...
		Could you briefly describe how each song is tied in to the concept? THE CORONATION The oldest son is old enough to get crowned, while his brothers get to be dukes. TRAIL OF FLAMES A couple of years later the brothers do some things that the king’s right hand (who ran the land when they all were too young), thinks threatens his position so he convinces the king that they have to be corrected and taught to always obey the king and always do as he would have wanted. This upsets them and they go to Norway and get an army to terrorize Sweden. UNDER THE SWORD There is peace again after the Danish king (also father in law to the Swedish king) got involved. The brothers get friendly with their king and fool him to think that his right hand is just a parasite and he would be stronger without him. NIGHT OF INFAMY The brothers come unnoticed to celebrate Christmas but imprison the king and take command over the land. HOOVES OVER NORTHLAND Both Norway and Denmark think they will be threatened in the future if the brothers are to continue in these ways so they attack the land and get a truce, splitting the land into 3 pieces. PLEDGE FOR FREEDOM One of the brothers gets married to the King of Norway`s only child, thereby getting to be the next to inherit the throne. Wishes for the future are exchanged by them although the newly wed duke has darker wishes than the Norwegian king has. RAVENHAIR The queen of Sweden is not satisfied with having to split up the land and still can`t forget the dukes betrayal some years ago. She contacts a witch to get back at them, but the witch can unfortunately not harm royal blood so the queen and the king have to come up with a plan themselves. THE SCEPTRE OF DECEPTION The dukes are invited to celebrate the time of peace and love, Christmas with their king and all leading men of the land. The same thing happens to them as they had done to the royal pair years earlier. HEAR ME PRAY The brothers write their testimony in the dungeons where they are imprisoned and left to starve to death. They can only wait for death. CHILD OF INNOCENCE The dukes` forces comes to aid them and the king has to flee to Denmark, where his son at the same time has gathered forces to come and aid his father. The son is met by the dukes` forces and killed. When the king hears this he dies from a broken heart. Now all 3 brothers are dead, so the one who finally gets the crown is one of the dukes` sons, only 3 years old.
		Andy LaRoque is again responsible for the great sound of the album. I read he played some guest solo parts on the album, is this true and if so, which songs feature his solos? “Hear me pray” and the bonus song “The Gate”.
		How did the cooperation work with Andy in general? How much does he contribute to the album as a whole? The work was as always a lot of fun. He produces the album as a 6th member of the band would have, but with more to say about the sound of the instruments. He comes with ideas and sometimes suggestions for changes, just as anyone of us might do. He is very good to work with.
		In the past you stated that you didn’t like to play live. Where does this aversion come from? I thought it was too much trouble to play live, especially if you have only 3 members. When we finally got more members to be able to play the monster proposals like Wacken, Bang Your Head and Rockmachina, we found out that the fun of it all made it really worth it. Not only to get a free trip but also to meet so much people and fans and see the appreciation. When I thought of the bad part of playing live it was playing local clubs here which I had done with my old bands and it was only trouble I thought, it wasn`t worth it. But now we could start with the best kind of gigs, I`m lucky to say because now we love playing live.
		Has your opinion about playing live changed, now that you have had the chance to perform on stage? As I said yes. I still have a hard time to understand that all those people want to see us and listen to the music I have made back home on my sofa.
		I read somewhere that Metal Blade was interested in signing Mithotyn, yet due to your split up, that deal was never realized. I presume the deal with Falconer was a result of that earlier interest or did it take a whole lot of convincing on your part? Not really, of course I had to show how my new thing sounded but they liked it. The thing is that when our label disappeared and we split the band and I had started to write some new stuff for Falconer we got the offer to sign Mithotyn to Metal Blade. We hadn`t made the split up decision public yet, we had just moved on, not really thinking about telling anyone, we didn`t think of it. So I told them that I`ll send them a demo of Falconer when it`s out and they loved it.
		Thanks a lot for this interview and I wish you all the best with the release of “The Sceptre Of Deception”. Is there anything left unsaid? Well, thank you very much for this time. I really hope that we can meet all of your readers out on tour. We also have a new website at: http://www.falconermusic.com.
		(Frank van de Voorde)