Review: "Sword’s Song" by Finnish Symphonic Metal Band Battlelore

Battlelore is a Finnish symphonic metal band having been in existence since 1999. Their second studio album called Sword’s Song is my favorite album from them so far and for that reason, we have to give this album the credit that it deserves. However, this is the last album to have original vocalist Patrik Mennander and the original bassist Miika Kokkola. Patrik’s vocals consist of the hardcore, shouting type which is unusual for this type of heavy metal. The lyrics are fantasy based, centering on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The opening song called "Sons of Riddermark" is heavily keyboard based and the song is about brave horsemen that ride and go on a journey to rid the southern lands of any enemies they might find. Their bravery is recognized because of the people that they end up saving. These people that are saved give their expression of gratitude. Kaisa Jouhki’s vocals are rather soothing and pleasant. They balance out the vocal department so that Patrik’s rough vocals don’t drown out the music. Patrik shouts "feel the might inside of you. It's time to fight." Why do we need to bring this up for discussion? This is because these vocals sound a bit like the vocalist for Scalping Screen, a band which I really like. Mark of the Bear is a song about strong men from the woods that have set out to eliminate orcs because they hate the orcs and want to do what they can to get rid of these creatures.

Kaisa makes a reference to the third age of the sun which would be the title of their next album after this one.

"Buccaneers Inn" is a symphonic metal gem and Kaisa’s vocals certainly help to make it as good as it is. Kaisa’s line of “Tonight we will celebrate” shows the strength and softness of her voice. I can celebrate listening to this album even in the afternoon.

The heavy song called "Dragonslayer" is about a warrior having a strong enough sword that can pierce the scales of the dragon. If this brave warrior fails to dispose of this dragon that’s standing in his way, it will be his fault and he is likely to bring shame upon his clan if he survives the battle.

"Horns of Gondor" is just an instrumental song that is similar in style to the kinds of instrumentals that Ensiferum would write. The very good song called War of Wrath is about the fact that as the northern winds picked up, the Guardian of Light came along and defeated all the evil forces that were disrupting the peace and he restored the peace to the land. There is a bonus track on the album called "The Curse of the King." The song called "Starlight Kingdom" is about these eagles that came along and kept the evil forces away and they put those enemies in check. Overall, Sword’s Song is a good album however this band is not as good or exciting as Ensiferum, another great Finnish folk metal band.

Grade: 80 out of 100 points for a solid B.