Review by Jack on April 10, 2002.

If one were to take 1/4 Amon Amarth, 1/4 Tristania, 1/8 Finntroll, 1/8 Diablerie and 1/4 symphonic black metal the result would be Battlelore’s latest album “Where the Shadows Lie”. We have here quite an exceptional blending of the above bands to make such an interesting blend of metal.

Shredding guitars, pulsating vocals ala Johan Hegg (Amon Amarth) and abstinent drum blasts one minute, and then one second later, shifting to calmer waters in the form of lush female vocals, and abstract theatrical symphonic synthesizer sections. And thus lies the form of music that Battlelore clearly divulge to all. What else becomes blatantly obvious to the listener, besides their brand of tunes, is how much how these guys dig their Tolkein. Titles like ‘Khazad-dum Part 1 (Ages of Mithril)’ and ‘Ride with the Dragons’ do absolutely nothing to muddy the waters or keep the listener guessing as to what form of concepts and lyrics Battlelore deal with. And to even further enlighten the consumer, the whole ensemble of Battlelore are dressed in the garb that would make Peter Jackson and the boys contemplate firing their current makeup/costume staff. The team consists of Scaurum (Gandalf/Saruman lookalike), Thrangull (Gimli), Halltar (Arwen #1), Uglur (a burly hobbit/halfling), Azog (Gollum), Lalaith (Arwen #2, possibly Galadriel) and Gwaeron (sort of a zombified Legolas/Boromir). If the music wasn’t so much of a standout, I could clearly see where all the work had gone.

Besides the amusing fantasy side that Battlelore have clearly got happening for them in “...Where the Shadows Lie”, the music is clearly something that needs to be highlighted constantly. Self dubbed “True Arctic Fantasy Metal”, Battlelore are elaborate as the thickness of their makeup on their cute little elvish and goblin faces. What I mean by this is that Battlelore take no shortcuts when recording and composing a song. Every riff, chord and beat are well thought out and forged to create a truly fantastical experience in metal. The only real complaint I have with Battlelore and “...Where the Shadows Lie” is that they seem to take the existing formulas of the aforementioned bands and create something different, whether intentional or not is a different question as Battlelore seem to be a band that is rather reclusive, hermits if you like.

Bottom Line: Whilst having questionable originality, Battlelore are an extremely credible band and what else do you want and need from a band, when they are dressed up as your favourite “Lord of the Rings” action figures!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 6.5
Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 9
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Felix on September 18, 2024.

From my point of view, Grave belonged to the leading quartet of early Swedish death metal. Entombed’s debut was the measure of all things, Unleashed did not only convince with their best song (“Before the Creation of Time”) and in particular Dismember’s second full-length made my day. And Grave? A very strong debut did not catapult them “into the grave”, but to the top of the new Scandinavian community. However, the gloss flaked off relatively quickly. The title track of Grave’s “You’ll Never See…” made a massive statement, but the remaining album was somewhere between good and mediocre – and as sad as it is, the guys never returned to the form of their very early days.

“Fiendish Regression” is a typical Grave album without any “Hating Life” experiments. It covers more or less all trademarks of the genre. On the one hand, this is what their fans expect, on the other hand, the whole work suffers from predictability. Lower-tuned guitars, often caught in mid-tempo, a deep, albeit still human voice, a slightly morbid mood from time to time - all of this should sound familiar to fans of the genre. Of course, every style has its guidelines and death metal is almost essentially based on a pretty narrow-minded attitude. Therefore Grave’s way of proceeding does not deserve particularly harsh criticism. Yet this does not mean that everything else is okay. By far not, because the list of defects is long. “Fiendish Regression” holds a proper number of breaks, but none of them increases the dynamic of the respective song. Quite the opposite, sometimes they almost kill the song. The speedy opening of “Bloodfeast” forms one of the best sections of the entire album, but it quickly comes to an end. After one and a half minutes, the speed implodes, a few wailing guitars saw around unmotivatedly and the fun is over. In addition, the guitar lines are not shaped by outstanding riffs, but that’s not enough. They fail to trigger any emotions. Yes, there is a deadly basic touch, but I cannot say whether it originates from the music or from the last cells of my brain which cannot ignore that I am listening to the album of a death metal band.

Of course, one can consume this album without feeling hatred rising within you. Grave avoid serious mistakes, some sections of the song are more or less promising, but unfortunately the track regularly fails to fulfil expectations. The band is actually still able to pen a casual riff every now and then, but too many run-of-the-mill sections blow the positive aspects away. Maybe they should have had more courage and give the single songs more individuality. They are not like two peas in a pod, but the structures, the number of breaks, the ratio of fast and slower parts always seem the same and it takes until the last track of the regular album (“Heretic”) before something like catchiness of the “melodies” sets in. The slightly spongy, yet punchy production typical of the genre with its droning guitars fits seamlessly into the somewhat bland overall picture. So it is the technical competence, the stamina, the integrity of the band and last but not least its history that allow me to give a still acceptable overall score.

Rating: 6.2 out of 10