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Lothloryen: Some Ways Back Some More
Lothloryen Some Ways Back Some More CD Album Review

Lothloryen: Some Ways Back Some More

Melodic/Folk/Power Metal
4.0/5.0

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Power Prog Records
by Craig Hartranft,  22.02.2014

Thanks to J.R.R. Tolkien and many other fantasy fiction writers, metal bands have had plenty of inspiration for their lyrics and music. Here's another band, Lothloryen, from Brazil, penning tunes from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy for their fourth album, Some Ways Back Some More.

Lothloryen Band Photo

Lothloryen: tall hobbits.

Now, as a matter of record, two things must be pointed it out. First, and only because I find it annoying, the proper spelling of the Elven land in Tolkien's Middle Earth is Lothorien, with an 'i' and not a 'y'. Second, Some Ways Back Some More is not exactly a 'new' album for the band. It's actually a re-recording of their 2008 album Some Ways Back No More, released only in Brazil, with their new singer, and new mixing, mastering, and art work. So, I guess, if you have the original album and liked it, you'll probably be curious and like the new version as well. Alternatively, if you don't like the marketing ploy of a band pitching you something as 'new' that is actually past, then you might feel like you're being deceived and ripped off. The middle ground is to look at this re-release as a chance for metal fans worldwide to get their hands on the band's back catalogue.

Fundamentally, with Some Ways Back Some More, what you have here is melodic power metal, and thanks to some acoustic guitar and such, touched with folk metal. Lothloryen probably is in the same style of, say, Blind Guardian, yet not quite as grandiose, although Unfinished Fairytale comes close. Some of the band's strengths are found in it's vocal arrangements, notable within We Will Never Be The Same, My Grimoire, and Hobbit's Song. Also, the guitar work is sharp and pleasing, with lots of fine metal solos from front to back. Sometimes the folk element is completely missing with Lothloryen getting more heavy and raging as with Some Ways Back No More, likely the heaviest song here. It's followed by Secret Time which divides between a lighter rhyme and melody in the first half, only to get stronger, like the previous song, in the back half.

While you can debate the finer points of whether this is a 'new' album or the old repackaged and pitched to unwary metal fans, Some Ways Back Some More is an entertaining album of melodic folk power metal.


Lothloryen - Hobbit's Song





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In Short

While you can debate the finer points of whether this is a 'new' album or the old repackaged and pitched to unwary metal fans, Some Ways Back Some More is an entertaining album of melodic folk power metal.

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