Battlelore

The Last Alliance
Napalm Records

I seem to remember not being overly impressed with the last Battlelore release, so as you can imagine my hopes were not high for this one. Well, it's nice to be wrong occasionally. "The Last Alliance" seems more grandiose than last time, a more epic feel to it all perhaps.... well, you get the point. The guitars are massive and the female vocals seem more prominent. Maybe they were before, but I can't really recall. Still I liked the overall feel of this album, and it still revolves lyrically around J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth. Not the most original idea to be sure ( and not the first band to mold their songs from his works) , but Battlelore seem to have a knack for it, and while I tend to rant about bands lacking originality, I couldn't help but really enjoy the powerful and majestic tales they wove into "The Last Alliance".

- Craig Harvey