Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly Good, June 26, 2004
I bought this CD as part of a large collection of CDs off ebay. Usually, these lots have a bunch of crap, with maybe a few gems. Well, this is one of those gems.First off, I don't like death metal vocals. The growling and gruffness irritates me, and this album has its fair share of that on it. But, I can live with it, and it almost sounds good when juxtaposed with Kaisa Jouhki's heavenly vocals. This is a Tolkien themed album, much like Blind Guardian, but with less of the power metal element. Kaisa Jouhki's voice really sounds like it belongs; her beautiful harmonies could easily have graced the big budget "Lord of the Rings" films. Musically, the band is pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but they have the atmospheric sound down pat. The drums are above average, the guitar work pretty simplistic(but as another reviewer noted, simple doesn't mean bad), and the keyboards are excellent. All in all, I was pleasently surprised to find such an excellent CD in a lot of craptastic discs I bought for a few dollars. I'll be buying Battlelore's other disc as soon as I can, now.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tolkien + metal = perfection, June 22, 2006
I was just looking for a new band when I happened to stumble, so how, into this great band. Being a extremely big Tolkien fan, I was shocked and amazed that thier were bands such as this. I knew of Blind Guardian and Summoning but I never truly pursued thier music save for some track listening here and there. I instantly fell in this band and became a huge fan.
These are some songs I thoroughly enjoyed.
1. Sons of Riddermark
A extrememy epric and fun song to listen to. I seriously can see this being a charging song as the Rohirrum trample thier foes. This is a very song to listen to while driving.
2. Mark of the Bear
Very intresting subject manner. The vocals are very well done and go very well with the song itself.
3. Buccaneers Inn
A song for those who want to drink, pillage, and set sail. This is a extremely fun song to listen to. One of my favs.
4. Khazad-Dum, Pt. 2 (Silent Caverns)
If there is any song that should be called epic - it's this. Telling the entire story of the delving of Khazad-Dum to the fall of the Balrog and Gandalf. I love this song. The harsh, growling vocals combined with the heavenly voice of Kaisa is genius.
5. War of Wraith
Yet another fun and intresting song to listen to. I really loved the growling in this. Kaisa is very good in this song as well.
6. Forked Height
I just loved this song. Kaisa shines here as well. They keyboards is a very nice touch here.
7. Starlight Kingdom
Yet another fun song about the Elves. The least of my favorites though.
I loved this entire album though. I give it 5 stars.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ok, ok, I was too hard on this at first..., February 16, 2004
I am changing my review of this album as of now. I originally complained that this record was very lazy and boring, with cheapo production and simple guitars. I have to admit though, my biggest mistake going into this record was EXPECTING a certain type of sound. Seeing as how Battlelore are a Tolkien inspired metal band, I was expecting something along the lines of Blind Guardian or even Rhapsody. This music isn't like that, and if you're going to buy this album thinking that's what you're getting, you'll be sorely disappointed.
Yes, that music is fantasy metal, but not so far into the light and epic tones of Blind guardian, but more of a darker and atmospheric approach. There are a few vocal types, the "death" growl, which really isn't the death growl one expects, but more of a Gothic growl to the likes of Moonspell, and clean male and female singing (there are 7 members; 5 guys, 2 girls). I originally beat up on the female vocalist's voice for being very monotone and unvaried. Well, it is and isn't. Sure, it's not Tarja from Nightwish, but it's not bad either. The tone is nice and melodic, keeping a certain ambience to the surrounding music; in other words, it fits well, even though I feel she underdoes it at times. The "orchestrials" are nothing more then keyboard effects, but do work well with the guitars and create a cool atmospheric sense, kind of the way the melodic metal band Soilwork does with their heavy use of keyboards. I do still think the production value sounds sub-par though. By that I dont mean it sounds cruddy or heard to hear, but it's simple and the guitar sounds/distortion levels or keyboard sounds/effects don't change. The acoustics are a nice addition though. Not every song on this is all that good, which is why I didn't give it 5 stars, cause it definitely doesnt deserve that in my opinion, but does deserve good recognition. There are skippable tracks (the one instrumental was disappointing, a good concept and inspiration, but the keyboards are way overused). The first 4 tracks are the album's highlight though, great songs!
Anyways, there is better stuff out there, but if you've got extra cash, this is a good place to spend it, just don't expect something very folky and upbeat like most power/D&D metal bands.
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