Battlelore

Battlelore
Battlelore at Tuska Open Air 2008
Background information
Origin	Lappeenranta, Finland
Genres	Gothic metal, folk metal, power metal, melodic death metal
Years active	1999–2011, 2016-present
Labels	Napalm Records
Website	http://www.battlelore.net
Members	Kaisa Jouhki Tomi Mykkänen Jussi Rautio Jyri Vahvanen Timo Honkanen Maria Honkanen Henri Vahvanen
Past members	Miika Kokkola Patrik Mennander Tommi Havo Gorthaur

Battlelore are a Finnish heavy metal band from Lappeenranta, founded in 1999 by guitarist Jyri Vahvanen and bassist Miika Kokkola. The name derives from the union of the words 'battle' and 'folklore'. Many of Battlelore's lyrics concern J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth sagas and their stage costumes and live shows are largely inspired by the themes and characters of fantasy literature. The band had many changes of personnel during their twelve years of activity and had a long hiatus after the completion of the tour supporting their latest release Doombound in 2011. In January 2016 they announced that they would be performing at Metal Female Voices Fest XIII in October 2016.

Battlelore's first demo Warrior's Tale was released in late 1999, the same year of the founding of the group, but Battlelore attracted the attention of the Austrian record label Napalm Records only after the publication of the second demo Dark Fantasy in late 2000, which featured for the first time long standing members Kaisa Jouhki as female singer, Henri Vahvanen on drums and Maria Honkanen on keyboards. Under request from the label, the band recorded an untitled 3-tracks demo before finally signing the contract.

In the fall of 2001, the band was at Music Bros. Studios to record their debut album with producer Miitri Aaltonen.

Around this time, guitarist Tommi Havo left the band for personal reasons and was replaced by the current lead guitarist Jussi Rautio. The debut album, ...Where the Shadows Lie, which includes re-recorded songs coming from early demos, was published in 2002 with good success. A video for the song "Journey to Undying Lands" was shot to promote the album. However, Battlelore are best known for their second album Sword's Song, registered like the first one at Music Bros. Studios with Miitri Aaltonen as producer and released in the spring of 2003, defined by many as their best. The album was successful and led the group to their first European tour.