Their departure was sad but expected. They both had so much going on in their lives that they couldn't give 100% to the band, so it was a mutual decision that they left. There is no bad blood between us. We found substitutes quite fast and now the chemistry inside Battlelore is working very well.

Your songs are deeply rooted in Tolkien's fantasy writing, why his? Do you ever see yourself venturing outside of this type work musically?

Battledore's songs are always going to tell about Tolkien's work. We all have and maybe will be doing music around some other theme.

"Third Age Of The Sun" has just recently been released, how has the fan reaction to the album been?

It is said to be our best album yet and I agree. Some fans miss our old stuff but the band has to go on to keep them interested in what they're doing.

Do you have any favorite songs off the album, if so which are they and why?

"Ghan of the woods" is one of my favorites due to the fact that the songs structure is well balanced. "Cloaked in her unlight" is another favorite because of the general atmosphere and words.

The musical orchestrations on the new album are extravagant. Did you have someone come in and help or is keyboardist Maria responsible for all of it?

I did some of the orchestrations as well as our producer Terje who did quite a few of them.

You've chosen "Storm Of The Blades" as the lead single and video, why this song as opposed to one of the others?

It felt like it had all the Battlelore elements in it so we thought it would be a good song to promote our new material. "Trollshaws" could have been another option, but it is quite different from our other material so we ended up with "Storm". It gives the best idea of the general spirit of the record.

I just have to ask, what is the meaning behind the tune "Gollum's Cry"? I want to understand that song just a little bit more.

Its orchestral piece is somewhat similar to the last record's "Horns of Gondor". It's Maria's song and we wanted to put it on the record to cut the heaviness of the whole record. You know we recorded 16 songs and we thought they all would go on the record but our record label Napalm reduced the amount of songs.

How much longer will it be before you tour the USA?

Dunno. We are coming to that side of the Atlantic Ocean in beginning of next year to visit Mexico but so far there hasn't been any talk about U.S. gigs.

Are there any specific touring packages that you'd like to get on?

You mean like Ozzfest or to tour with specific bands? I read about what Sharon Osbourne did to Iron Maiden and I don't think any of the European bands want to have anything to do with these reality T.V. stars. If I could choose few bands to tour with they would be Finntroll and Korpiklaani.

When you do go on tour, how much of your material will be from your previous efforts, if any?

We try to concentrate on our new material but we normally play songs like "Journey to undying lands" and "Buccaneers Inn" as well as few older songs.

What would you like fans to come away from the show thinking?

That they have experienced something new and something very different from their normal lives.

What are your thoughts on the current Metal scene in the USA and in Europe?

I think the Metal scene in the USA is more NU-Metal sounding and in Europe it's more Gothic sounding. This can be heard in these bands that are quite similar, but there is a difference in their sounds: Within Temptation and Evanescence.

Do you have any favorite bands to mention?

I like bands and artists like P.J.Harvey, Nick Cave, Kyuss, System of a Down and Switchblade Symphony.

Is there a band out now, that you'd compare yourselves to?

Not too many. Some compare us to Nightwish but I think that's just because we both have female and male singers and we both come from Finland.

When Battlelore isn't busy making music and touring what can we find the band doing to occupy their time?

Just normal simple life with it's pleasures. I read books and answer interviews like this. I like traveling and seeing other cultures. It gives perspective to my own life. Also mysticism and myths are very interesting.

In your humble opinion what advantages have you gotten since aligning yourselves with Napalm Records?

They've done lots of promotion for us and paid our studio bills. They have also made some tours and other events possible for us that we wouldn't be able to do on our own.

Any last words of advice for our readers?

Stay Metal Perkele!