Battlelore - Third Age Of The Sun

Liu · 02-12-2006, 09:05 PM

Battlelore - Third Age Of The Sun
Napalm Records

My first exposure to Battlelore was their previous album, Sword's Song. One glance at the album cover, band picture and songtitles and I just wrote them off as a Tolkien-based power metal band and promptly put the album in the "No hurry, it can wait" pile. Seriously, they dress up as if they just came back from a live action role-playing convention. Few weeks later I decided to swallow my pride and placed the cd in the player. My initial expectations were quickly dashed. Third Age Of The Sun is the follow up to that album.

Battlelore's chosen war cry consists of heavy death-styled metal as at the main core with an epic gothic atmosphere engulfing it. The sound isn't that much different than it was on Sword's Song, though a little more developed. At times it reminds me of what Sentenced were doing with the Amok album. The crisp production puts the guitar riffs at the forefront, which there is no shortage of, leaving a sizable imprint on the music. The gothic elements are integrated so that it gets equal attention with the heavy riffing without distracting from it.

The band uses the beauty and beast approach to the vocals. Tomi Mykkanen handles the gutteral death vox while Kaisa Jouhki takes care of the female side of things. Kaisa gets a good portion of the singing duties, and the band should continue to focus more on her vocals than the death rasp. Tomi handles them well, but there isn't alot of dynamics with his singing and Battlelore's sound greatly benefits from Kaisa's delivery. Most songs require the vocalists to interact with each other; Ghan Of The Woods, Trollshaws and Touch Of Green and Gold being some of the highlights. I'd definately be interested if Kaisa gets involved in another project outside of the Tolkien influence.

The album does have some less than stellar moments, chief among them being Gollum's Cry. Here someone is trying their best Gollum impersonation and its just something you wanna turn down or else your neighbors start asking strange questions. The digipak version of the album contains 3 bonus tracks, and is the one that should be seeked out. These songs are among the best on the album, especially Dwimmerlaik.

Truth be told, Third Age Of The Sun only continues to hint at the greatness this band can achieve. The framework is there, and with some refining of the formula I can only imagine how immense they can be.

01. Usvainen Rhun
02. Storm Of The Blades
03. Ghan Of The Woods
04. Gwaith-I-Mirdain
05. Trollshaws
06. Elves Of Luva
07. Valier - Queens Of The Valar
08. Thousand Caves
09. Cloaked In Her Unlight
10. Of Orcs And Elves
11. Touch Of Green And Gold
12. Pallando - Forgotten Wizards I
13. Gollum's Cry
14. Alatar - Forgotten Wizards II (digipak bonus track)
15. Elessar's Call (digipak bonus track)
16. Dwimmerlaik (digipak bonus track)

Score: 7/10

02-12-2006, 09:05 PM	#1
Liu Global Galaxy Tyrant Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 196	Battlelore - Third Age Of The Sun Battlelore - Third Age Of The Sun Napalm Records My first exposure to Battlelore was their previous album, Sword's Song. One glance at the album cover, band picture and songtitles and I just wrote them off as a Tolkien-based power metal band and promptly put the album in the "No hurry, it can wait" pile. Seriously, they dress up as if they just came back from a live action role-playing convention. Few weeks later I decided to swallow my pride and placed the cd in the player. My initial expectations were quickly dashed. Third Age Of The Sun is the follow up to that album. Battlelore's chosen war cry consists of heavy death-styled metal as at the main core with an epic gothic atmosphere engulfing it. The sound isn't that much different than it was on Sword's Song, though a little more developed. At times it reminds me of what Sentenced were doing with the Amok album. The crisp production puts the guitar riffs at the forefront, which there is no shortage of, leaving a sizable imprint on the music. The gothic elements are integrated so that it gets equal attention with the heavy riffing without distracting from it. The band uses the beauty and beast approach to the vocals. Tomi Mykkanen handles the gutteral death vox while Kaisa Jouhki takes care of the female side of things. Kaisa gets a good portion of the singing duties, and the band should continue to focus more on her vocals than the death rasp. Tomi handles them well, but there isn't alot of dynamics with his singing and Battlelore's sound greatly benefits from Kaisa's delivery. Most songs require the vocalists to interact with each other; Ghan Of The Woods, Trollshaws and Touch Of Green and Gold being some of the highlights. I'd definately be interested if Kaisa gets involved in another project outside of the Tolkien influence. The album does have some less than stellar moments, chief among them being Gollum's Cry. Here someone is trying their best Gollum impersonation and its just something you wanna turn down or else your neighbors start asking strange questions. The digipak version of the album contains 3 bonus tracks, and is the one that should be seeked out. These songs are among the best on the album, especially Dwimmerlaik. Truth be told, Third Age Of The Sun only continues to hint at the greatness this band can achieve. The framework is there, and with some refining of the formula I can only imagine how immense they can be. 01. Usvainen Rhun 02. Storm Of The Blades 03. Ghan Of The Woods 04. Gwaith-I-Mirdain 05. Trollshaws 06. Elves Of Luva 07. Valier - Queens Of The Valar 08. Thousand Caves 09. Cloaked In Her Unlight 10. Of Orcs And Elves 11. Touch Of Green And Gold 12. Pallando - Forgotten Wizards I 13. Gollum's Cry 14. Alatar - Forgotten Wizards II (digipak bonus track) 15. Elessar's Call (digipak bonus track) 16. Dwimmerlaik (digipak bonus track) Score: 7/10 __________________ Lapland Metal