Kev Rowland Here is the follow-up to last year’s debut ‘Steel’, but in the intervening period they have brought in a new lead singer in Noora Louhimo, and blooded her by undertaking a tour supporting Sonata Artica. They are one of the bands that these guys are musically similar to, but that list can easily be extended to include groups such as Hammerfall, Children of Bodom and Nightwish with old school classic rock such as Dio very much in evidence. This is symphonic power metal that is incredibly heavy, but with a female singer who can sing like an angel when she wants to. It’s just that the mood doesn’t strike her very often. She can scream like a good ‘un, and has incredible range and power and this combined with the very melodic but very heavy backdrop makes for a very powerful combination indeed.

This is in your face, with lots of twists and turns, and loads of bombast and energy. Thirty seconds into opener “Let It Roar” and this Finnish band already had my attention. Classic rock combined with the heaviness of a band such as Children of Bodom and the melody and hooks of Nightwish means that they tick all of the musical boxes. It is extremely well produced (by the band themselves, mastering was done by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios) and they have some wonderful cover art (the battle beasts on this cover also appeared on the debut). Add to that the look of the band themselves who are fronted by someone who looks like a much younger version of Doro Pesch and I can’t see how these guys can fail.

This is a superb symphonic power metal album, highly recommended. www.battlebeast.fi

RuneWalsh2112 There are quite a few changes between the band's debut and sophomore releases. The most noticeable one is the shift in the lead vocals with Noora Louhimo replacing Nitte Valo. The other major change is the switch from traditional heavy metal sound to a mix between heavy metal and power metal. I guess that this change might be attributed to the change of lead vocalist but I honestly doubt that was the only reason for the new direction. Still, my personal favorite change from the debut album is the general improvement in the song writing department!

The album kicks off with a memorable opener "Let It Roar", followed by two more strong compositions; "Out Of Control" and "Out On The Streets". The forth track, "Neuromancer", is where the band loses me but luckily "Raven" sweeps in and returns things to normal. "Into The Heart Of Danger" is slightly more pop-oriented track that still manages to make an impression while "Machine Revolution" is a bit representative but still is a fun little track.

The ninth track, "Kingdom", comes completely out of nowhere and blows me away with the sheer power of the performance. This is definitely one of the band's strongest power metal compositions on this release. I love that the track doesn't build up and instead goes straight for the punch from the first note, even if "Golden Age" does serve as an intro to it.

The rest of the material is pretty solid even if "Over The Top" feels like a somewhat unnecessary track. "Fight, Kill, Die", the single "Black Ninja" and "Rain Man" end the album on a satisfactory note and there's really no need for the bonus track "Shutdown". The bonus servers no noteworthy purpose other than prolonging the album's length.

Battle Beast's sophomore self-titled release is an excellent album that definitely shows progression from their debut release. There are still a few rough spots here and there plus I kind of wish that there were a few more highlights. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the release that I've been given, definitely looking forward to the next one!

***** star songs: Kingdom (5:00)

**** star songs: Let It Roar (3:40) Out Of Control (3:47) Out On The Streets (2:55) Raven (2:52) Into The Heart Of Danger (5:26) Machine Revolution (4:05) Golden Age (1:57) Fight, Kill, Die (2:44) Black Ninja (3:54) Rain Man (5:12)

*** star songs: Neuromancer (4:04) Over The Top (2:37) Shutdown (3:45)