Battlelore - Third Age of The Sun
I've often wondered how much power metal is meant to be a "fun" style of music. I mean, we all know it's pretty hard to take some of the excesses of the style seriously - grown men singing about epic battles in fantasy kingdoms with unusual names is certainly stretching credibility to an extent - but most bands seem to take themselves relatively seriously. Something tells me that Battlelore doesn't.
"Third Age of the Sun" is my first encounter with these Finnish Tolkien-philes, and I may as well admit up front that I came across the album as the result of wondering what else there was which sounded like Blind Guardian's epics. Well, needless to say, Battlelore are just as Tolkien obsessed as Hansi and his friends - possibly moreso, since they only sing about those mythical lands.
Stylistically, most of this album features duets between operatic female vocals and growled male vocals, two styles deployed to maximum effect. Tolkien, of course, had a lot of dwarves and trolls and the like in his mythology, so the growls are a perfect representation of these. The clean female vocals generally take a more elven role.
I'm sure this album could be better. In a musical sense, a couple more solos might be a worthwhile inclusion, but what you get here is a very tight album overall. A real standout is "Of Orcs and Elves", which features some catchy riffs and sublime interplay between the two vocalists. "Dwimmerlaik", the final song of the bonus tracks, is also well worth a listen.
Obviously, "Third Age of the Sun" isn't for everyone. The over-the-top fantasy themes will put a lot of people off, and the lack of guitar solos is mentioned in another review here as a negative. Personally, I don't mind the fantasy stuff and I'd argue that a pulling-out-the-stops guitar solo in the middle of one of these songs would just be a pointless display of skill - when the real focus here is on the cumulative ability of the band to put out a strong set of songs. That's perhaps the key for me - unlike so much of this style, each song stands up by itself. You don't have to have a spare 90 minutes to listen to an entire concept album here - one song here and there will work just as well. That might be a reflection of the power of the MP3 player, of course...
The bottom line for me is this: Are there better bands out there? You bet your life. I don't rate these guys as superior to Blind Guardian for example, and there are a few others out there too if I could only get my brain in gear. That said, am I going to go out of my way to get my hands on more music by this outfit? Again, you bet your life.
copas from http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Battlelore/Third_Age_of_the_Sun/83603/
Tracklist:
01. Usvainen Rhûn
02. Storm Of The Blades
03. Ghân Of The Woods
04. Gwaith-i-Mírdain
05. Trollshaws
06. Elves Of Lúva
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
15. Elessar's Call
16. Dwimmerlaik
mp3 320 kbps
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