Neithan: Do birds of prey go through hibernation as well? I can’t recall, but fact is that the Slechtvalk (Peregrine Falcon) is flying in the air once more, a thing that makes me very happy. In April 2010 finally a new album will be released through new label Whirlwind Records, yet as an appetizer there is this album called ‘An Era Of Bloodshed’: the title is already an indication that this is not the new album, yet a kind of ‘best of’ album. Yet in stead of doing it the easy way just by copying and pasting the songs to a new master the band has put some more effort into it: all the tracks have been put in a running order which is similar to the chronology of the date the original albums were released and they had it all remastered by Patrick Engel, so that the songs fit together better productionwise (the styles throughout the years changed by the album). At least the songs fit better together than on the original releases.
As such the fans are treated with an album that contains three songs of the debut ´Falconry´ (a more rawish black metal project by Shamgar alone), one song from the ‘Çhaos & Warfare’ split with Indonesian Kekal, three from the majestic melodic black metal classic ‘The War That Plagues The Lands’ (alas without my personal favorite ‘Of Slumber And Death’), three songs from the viking-metal album ‘At The Dawn Of War’ (released maybe three years too early in retrospective) and yes, three new songs as well. Although new? ‘War Of The Ancients’ was on ‘The War That Plagues The Lands’ and is the closing outro, an acoustic piano version by the returned Premnath. Yet the two most interesting songs are of course ‘Hounds Of Battle’ and ‘Towards The Dawn’, which had been on the promo I got from the band early 2008 and which go further towards pagan metal. The songs of the promo are good, yet production-wise of course less than the remastered album-songs.
It is a bit of a typical compilation album to those who already know the band, also because the three full albums all had their distinctive style and sound/atmosphere. For the new fans or those who just started out in this genre it is perhaps more of an asset, so that they get a good overview of the band throughout the years. I suggest that you as a reader will decide on that one. Furthermore it is a typical compilation: I am pretty sure that I am not the only one who will miss a favourite song, also because the band has produced way more than just thirteen good songs. Nevertheless the album is a good appetizer towards the upcoming album in April of this year: without female soprano Fionnghuala yet that will be more in the style of ‘Hounds Of Battle’ and ‘Towards The Dawn’. Personally I am more than curious about that new album, so I will have to ask the gentlemen about that album some day soon. In the meanwhile this ‘An Era Of Bloodshed’ is a nice way to put an end to the past and to start looking to the new era of Slechtvalk to come!
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