Battlelore – “Doombound” (2011)

Label : Napalm Records

Review by Tony Cannella

With 2011 just underway, one of the most highly anticipated Femme Metal albums is “Doombound” by Finland’s Battlelore. This epic, fantasy metal band set the bar incredibly high on their previous releases, so with “Doombound” there is a lot to live up to. On “Doombound”, Battlelore has returned to their main source of inspiration, that being J.R.R. Tolkein. “Doombound” is Battlelore’s first full fledged concept album and is based on the story “The Children of Húrin” by Mr.Tolkien. The pounding, melodicism of the opener, “Bloodstained” begins this epic journey as the unmistakable duel male/female vocals provided by Kaisa Jouhki and Tomi Mykkänen are present to enhance this strong opening number. “Iron of Death” is next and picks up the tempo a bit. “Bow and Helm” is a powerful piece that showcases Battlelore at their best. “Enchanted” is a beautifully, melodic mid-tempo piece which sees Kaisa handling the bulk of the vocals while Tomi joins in at various points to Inject his forceful style. This was my favorite song.The aggression gets picked up a notch on the next track “Kärmessurma”. Other highlights include: “Olden Gods”, “Men as Wolves” and the 8-minute “Doombound”. “Doombound” continues Battlelore’s metal journey through Middle-Earth and it is a worthy edition to this great bands catalog of music. This CD is also available in a limited edition Digi-Pack which also comes with a bonus DVD featuring some live footage, video clips and behind the scenes stuff. “Doombound” is vintage Battlelore, which should please their growing fan base.