Band:	Battlelore
Album:	Third Age Of The Sun
Style:	Folk metal, Power metal
Release date:	July 2005

01. Usvainen Rhûn (Intro)
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 (Outro)
14. Elessar's Call [bonus]
15. Alatar - Forgotten Wizards II [bonus]
16. Dwimmerlaik [bonus]

I guess all started with that guy Tolkien writing "The Lord Of The Rings" and then all went downhill. Don't get me wrong, I love the books and the movies are great too, but the whole cult surrounding the movies is unbearable, that summed with the whole cult that Star Wars generate, becomes just a little too nerdy for my tastes.

While is not rare at all to see Tolkien influences in Metal (specially in Black Metal) these guys took that and amplified to the point that they're characters from the Tolkien universe, with costumes and all. Well, at least the costumes are very cool.

This is the third album from the Tolkien inspired band, and they cleverly named it "The Third Age Of The Sun", in case you missed the other 2 albums, this band plays Fantasy-driven Metal, a mixture of Gothic and Folk Metal, with female vocals, rough ones (Death-style), keyboards, and overall mystic atmosphere, phew. Damn complex bands.

But the real question is, does it works? Well, it depends, while they seem very into Tolkien and they know their stuff, the whole atmosphere is not the appropriate to recreate the Tolkien universe, but of course, that's my opinion.

To portray Tolkien I would use grandiose and over the top instrumentation, epic passages and more aggression at parts, (if you're thinking about Rhapsody now, think again, you're in the wrong way). The grunted, rough vocals aren't powerful at all, and the female vocals are too sweet for my tastes (at least they're not operatic).

My main problem with this band is not their music, but what they represent: Tolkien. The album fails to evocate the Tolkien spirit, although they succeed at it on a lyrical level. Despite that flaw, the album has some memorable songs like "Ghan Of The Woods" , "Elves Of Luva" and "Valier - Queens Of The Valar". If you want an easy laugh, check out last track, "Gollum's Cry"

You should try this and see if it suits your musical tastes, if you're looking for bland Gothic Metal with some Folk elements, maybe this is your album, the rest, proceed with precaution.