Falkenbach
Country of origin:Germany
Location:Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia
Status:Active
Formed in:1989
Genre:Viking/Black/Folk Metal
Lyrical themes:Heathenism, Lore, Germanic mythology
Current label:Prophecy Productions
Years active:1989-present
Falkenbach translates as "Runnel of (the) Falcons" from German, though Vratyas also stated that there's some personal meaning in it.
In 2006, Skaldic Art Productions released a tribute album entitled ...An Homage to Falkenbach; ''Tribute: Part I'' and ''Tribute: Part II'' with "Tribute" written like the Falkenbach logo. Limited to 500 copies each. Skaldic Art Productions is the label of Vratyas Vakyas. Bands on the tribute include Eluveitie, Folkearth, Vinterriket, Theudho, Hordak and others.
Vratyas Vakyas roughly means ''the searching wanderer''. In fact, Vratyas Vakyas is not a name. "Vratyas" and "Vakyas" are two proper names, whose origin can be found in the "Vatan", which is not a religion, but more a form of philosophy connected to Ásatrú. Vratyas and Vakyas are the first two ''steps'' in Vatan, and can be compared to Christian ''ranks'' such as Priest or Bishop.
Most of Falkenbach lyrics were written in English, but some were written in Norræna (old Icelandic), Latin, and Old German. Some of the lyrics and release titles are found in the Poetic Edda (Old Norse literature).
In 1989, Vratyas Vakyas recorded his first three-track demo tape, "Havamal", limited to 9 copies. After that, Vratyas played in a band called Crimson Gates, with which he recorded 2 demos, which never were released or even mixed up. Crimson Gates had two live performances, and split up in 1994.
According to Vratyas on the Falkenbach board on April 20, 2005, there was a total of 9 Falkenbach tapes. Some other pages mention a demo called "Ásynja", which little is known about.
In 1995, recording of the debut album "Fireblade" began, but due to equipment malfunctions, recording was ceased a shortly before the mixing process. "Fireblade" was never released, although a lot of the tracks from these sessions have been re-recorded and used on the "Heralding - The Fireblade" album.
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