Best album yet
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien has a lot to answer for. Influential writer of ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of The Rings’, he never would have envisaged his writings turned into the world’s first Tolkien Tribute Band. Typically as expected, only the Finns can come up with something like this.
Battlelore’s music hinges on the vocals of the good Hobbits of the Shire (the very pleasant and melodic style of Kaisa ‘Arwen’ Jouhki) and the evil Sauron growling vocals of Tomi ‘Wormtongue’ Mykkanen. It’s a play off on boy vs girl, good vs evil, Gandalf vs Saruman etc, you get the point, right.
They chose to work with the ingenious producer Janne Saksa for the recordings and the legendary metal god Dan Swanö (Opeth producer) for the mixing and mastering of the album, which proved to be perfect choices. The album consists of big, epic and atmospheric songs full of feeling and raging battles, which will lead the listener back to Middle-earth in an unforgettable way. “The Last Alliance” includes also a bonus DVD featuring the massive live show at Metal Female Voices Festival in Wieze, Belgium 2007.
There’s a lot to be said for the Symphonic/Folk/Battle Metal Genre, especially when its done as well as this. I’ve previously stated that I’m not a fan at all of the growly vocal delivery but it seems to work very well here. The keyboards are high in the mix and complement the style very well, but will probably not be everyones cup of tea! There are lots of keys, bombastic symphonic layered riffs and vocals.
Opener ‘Third Immortal’ has a very anthemic feel to it. Jouhki’s vocals match the music well, but I’d prefer a stronger, more powerful voice, but that's just a gripe. Tomi’s growl kicks in to overshadow those of his partner, but only enhance the sound. The songs continue to have the same strong sound throughout the album, especially on tracks ‘The Great Gathering’, ‘Green Dragon’ and ‘Guardians’, before more subtle sounding ‘Daughter of the Sun’. There are a few songs where the female vocals are more present, but the album really shines when both contrasting styles come together
Battlelore have a strong release in their hands. If its powerful melodies, crunching riffs, powerful keyboards, grunty and ethereal vocals, all wrapped up in a Middle Earth style album then look no futher Fellow(ship) listeners, this is right up your Shire
Think of it like Nightwish but played with a right kick up the peppu!