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Despite that this is the best cover art Battlelore have ever had, I was not expecting much from it. Since the glorious Sword's Song this Finnish outfit has been in a slump, producing the acceptable Third Age Of Sun and then the unbearably dull Evernight, so I was sadly taking Battlelore off my radar if this fifth album didn't pan out. Imagine my glee when this snuck up on me and became their best work in years, and their most consistent album period.

Sword's Song had high high points, like the rocking "Buccaneer's Inn" and the hypnotic "War Of Wrath", but it had some slower moments. The Last Alliance succeeds by being utterly consistent all the way through, from the groovy "Third Immortal" to the beautiful "Guardians" and the heavy "Epic Dreams", this is an album with no dead spots, no skip tracks, and no let-downs. This is Battlelore all the way, with big, pounding riffs, sweeping keyboards, and the roars of Tomi Mykkanen trading off with the smooth, measured velvet of Kaisa Jouhki — one of music's most distinctive voices and the sexiest lady in metal.

This is finally an album as big and epic and catchy as I always hoped Battlelore had in them, and it will definitely rank near the top of my list for this year. Raise your drinking-horn and let's hear it for the heaviest elves on earth.