The story of Slechtvalk started back in 1997 when Shamgar wrote some extreme songs for different projects. By putting songs in MP3-format on the internet, he gained a lot of fans. Finally Shamgar decided to use the name Slechtvalk, the Dutch name for the bird of extremes. At that time Slechtvalk was still a one-man-project and not a real band as it is today.
Fear Dark was not the only label showing interest in Slechtvalk. But as both the label and Shamgar are from Holland it was a natural decision to join Fear Dark.
In the year 2000 Shamgar finished his songwriting for 'Falconry' and Fear Dark released the album later that year. 'Falconry' was received very well, both by press and audience. Interviews were done in well-known magazines (including Aardschok) and sales went very well for a debut-cd. Soon Slechtvalk was called one of the best dark/black metalbands from Holland. The songs showed an interesting mix of Dimmu Borgir, Summoning and Dark Funeral. Shamgar succeeded very well in mixing aggression with atmosphere.
After the release of 'Falconry' Shamgar decided it was time to search for other bandmembers. To his surprise he succeeded in forming a whole talented band within a year. Together they started to write new material and in the summer of 2002 Fear Dark released a split-cd called 'Chaos & Warfare' with Slechtvalk and Kekal, the Asian masters of progressive black metal. Both bands recorded four songs for this split, including a cover.
The songs on 'Chaos & Warfare' were received very well, but it was only a start. In October Fear Dark released 'The War That Plagues The Lands', the second full-length album by Slechtvalk. The album became a masterpiece, containing quality songwriting, excellent recordings and brutal artwork by the mighty Kris Verwimp, who also painted covers for bands like Immortal, Marduk and Absu. 'The War That Plagues The Lands' brought Slechtvalk to a higher level.
During the winter of 2002/2003 Slechtvalk will be headlining their first European tour through Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Czech and Poland, with Ador Dorath as support-act. Besides those shows the band will play some European festivals as well in 2003. And this all is just the beginning of much more to happen. Slechtvalk will continue the haunt for your dark souls.
Source: http://www.slechtvalk.com/