The Finnish fantasy metal band Battlelore is ready with their third album "Third Age Of The Sun", released through Napalm Records. The band combines elements from power, folk and death metal to create their own distinct sound. Lyrically the band takes much inspiration from Tolkien's works and other fantasy writers. Step into the magical world of Battlelore and experience it for yourself.

Battlelore has made quite a name of themselves already in a short time. Both the press and the fans has given positive feedback on their work. The band even released a DVD after only two albums, which must say something about their growing popularity. I enjoyed those albums as well even though they tend to get boring after a while. Now their third album is here and I must say I've enjoyed this one more than the earlier ones. The thing that annoyed me most with the earlier Battlelore albums was the production. It sounded good and polished but it was way to static and made the music sound boring and over-polished. This time they have gone for a more real and organic sound, which really brings the music alive. It couldn't have been much better than this.

Battlelore's strongest side lies within their two vocalists. Kaisa Jouhki has a great voice and she seems to just get better and better with every album. Tomi Mykkänen handles the growls and does a good job. There are many songs where both vocalists sing at the same time and those parts are often very cool. If you think you will find technical riffs and solos in Battlelore you will be severely disappointed. The guitars are very simplistic and play power-chords most of the time. Together with the bass and drumming they make a solid and heavy rhythm section for the lead instruments and vocals to build upon. The various keyboard sounds on this album keeps things interesting throughout the whole album. The cheesy keyboard melodies from "Sword's Song" seems to have completely disappeared and I can't say I miss them. The songs are still very catchy and even more memorable than before. My favorite tracks on the album are 'Ghan Of The Woods” and 'Thousand Caves'. The last song 'Gollum's Cry" is quite weird. The song is a very orchestrated ballad-like song and the vocals even sound like Gollum mourning.

"Third Age Of The Sun" is Battlelore's best album so far and fans of the previous albums won't be disappointed. Battlelore knows how to write good songs and how to make all the instruments come together nicely. All songs on the album are between three and four mins long. It would've been cool to see try making an 10+ min long epic track but my wishes didn't come true. But as it is now I'll have to settle with the songs as they are. Recommended for someone who wants some good fantasy metal.