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Ah, welcome to the third CD from Finland's elf-obsessed Tolkien worshippers. I just loved the crap out of "Sword's Song", and so I was really excited to get this. I was afraid they could not quite touch that level two albums in a row, and while I was right about that, they came close. "Third Age" does not quite match its predecessor, but it is a fine CD.

This time around there are no surprises at all for the Battlelore fan. This is the same heavy, crunchy metal with harsh vocals bellowing in turn with the delicate melodies of female singer Kaisa Jouhki. The keys are a bit more in the background this time out, and the guitar sound is ex-tremely heavy, so this would seem to be a more aggressive recording than 'Sword's Song", but overall it is a little slower-paced than that album, with more involved but less accessible melodies. There are some really fine tunes on here, like the opener "Storm Of The Blades", and the riffy "Trollshaws", but there is some filler present as well, and a lot of slower songs. So there is nothing to quite match the rocking instant gratification of "Buccaneer's Inn" for example. But this album rewards repeated listens with great and moving power. On first spin it will blend together and seem average. But after many listens you will be drawn in again. At its finest moments, "Sword's Song" had the power to transport you to another world, and "Third Age" manages to do it yet again. The only thing I really have to complain about is the last tune, the awful "Gollum's Cry", which is literally just background music overlaid with someone whining (as Gollum) about losing the ring. It's not even a song, it's crap. But if you skip that, Battlelore have crafted a completely worthy follow-up to "Sword's Song".