logo Slechtvalk

Biografie : Slechtvalk

The bandmembers are christian and they preach hate against satan and vikings in their lyrics, so Black Metal is in this case not the right name for the musical style of this band. They seem to have been confronted with the Black Metal Mafia and asked people on christian forums to pray for them. I always thought Metal was the Devils Music, probably not...

They are loved, they are hated: Slechtvalk. When we take the reviews from all over the world serious, Slechtvalk is one of the most promising Dutch dark/black metal bands of the moment. Named after the fast and bloodthirsty bird of prey, the band knows how to give a recognizable sound to their music. Slechtvalk combines the bombastic parts of Dimmu Borgir with the venomish parts of Dark Funeral, but has also the catchy parts of the old After Forever. A strong mix that convinces both friend and enemy.

Slechtvalk"s debut album "Falconry" was released in 2000 by the Dutch label Fear Dark. At that time Slechtvalk was still an one-man project of vocalist/guitarist Shamgar. The mix of dark and black metal was received very well and a lot magazines, including Aardschok, did an interview with Slechtvalk. Because of that Slechtvalk became known as a leading band in the Dutch dark/black metal scene. This hasn"t changed since that time.

Shamgar took advantage of his reputation and tried to form a real band. He succeeded with this and in 2002 they visited the Mailmen Studio in Holland to record their next album. As a teaser they released a split-cd with the well-known progressive black metalband Kekal from Indonesia. Both bands presented 4 songs, including a cover. The split-cd was received very well and at the end of 2002 the new album "The War That Plagues The Lands", with stunning artwork of the well-known Belgian artist Kris Verwimp (Marduk, Immortal, Absu), was released.

This album was also received worldwide with lots of enthusiasm and Slechtvalk got a lot of interviews in magazines worldwide. Within 3 weeks "The War That Plagues The Lands" reached a number-2 position in the Lowlands Top-50. In March 2003 Slechtvalk toured through Europe for the first time and played at festivals and for sold-out venues in Germany, Sweden and ofcourse The Netherlands. In the beginning of 2004 the band played for hundreds enthusiastic fans in Switzerland.

The succes in Europe was expanded to Asia. The Asian label Sonnengot Music released the album "The War That Plagues The Lands" for the Asian market. And for the Eastern Europian market the album was released by HROM Records from Slovakia. To expand their strong position in The Netherlands and Belgium, Slechtvalk is touring the clubcircuit with Serenade of Darkness as support-act. At the same time plans are coming together for the successor of "The War That Plagues The Lands". The story continues...

Source : http://www.slechtvalk.com/index1.html