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BATTLE BEAST Circus Of Doom By Andrew Depedro, Ottawa Corespondent Monday, February 7, 2022 @ 12:17 AM
Taking their fight and fright to the Finnish and beyond, the monstrous power metal Svengalis from Suomi known as BATTLE BEAST have sidestepped the contemporary trappings of most modern power metal while stepping into their own sideshow with their 6th studio effort titled Circus Of Doom. It’s an album that doesn’t just further demonstrate the band’s talents at marrying the spirit of power metal with the high energy and sound of contemporary pop, but also an album that’s simply fun to listen to with no other underlying serious messages despite its ominous title.
The opening number and title track is the longest of the tracklist, at just over 5 minutes in length, and while the free-flowing mighty-sounding vocals of Noora Louhimo emote and chant at full capacity on this track alone, it’s already proclaimed the circus’ proud arrival as the lyrics conjure up images of dancing marionettes and laughing shadows. On the follow-up tracks such as “Wings Of Light” and “Master Of Illusion”, Noora’s vocals vary from incendiary bonafide old school DORO-style octaves to modern disco metal-style overtones, with giant riffs, piercing solos and contagiously catchy AOR melodies surrounding her performance, courtesy of the dual guitar work of Juuso Soinio and Joona Björkroth. Other notable numbers include the powerful-sounding “Where
With three albums into their ongoing transition since the departure of founding member/guitarist Anton Kabanen in 2016, BATTLE BEAST are continuing to find their own war cry in a field of mostly pretenders in the power metal game. A couple of repeated plays of Circus Of Doom will further confirm the shorter ascent to the big top that BATTLE BEAST are poised for.
4.5 Out Of 5
https://www.facebook.com/battlebeastofficial
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Angels Fear To Fly”, which, with its dramatic opening and crescending mid-tempo, sets up a perfectly surprising and crashing curtain-closing finale like a condensed version of Operation: Mindcrime or Keeper Of The Seven Keys. “Eye Of The Storm” is a dark, brooding track that proudly wears its torment on its sleeve and is the closest to a ballad one will find throughout this album. And, not content with merely representing its 80’s new wave influences, the band channel their inner ABBA with the melodious banger “Russian Roulette”, which is every bit as catchy as a great part of their 70’s Scandinavian brethren’s output. And closing out the album would be the three bonus tracks such as the winding number “The Road To Avalon”, the apocalyptic-sounding “Armageddon” and the timeless and ever-gracious ode to the fans titled “Place We Call Home”, with Noora’s enthusiastic chants of “Here we go!” commanding the pace of the song.