Occasionally, believe it or not, I listen to things other than deathcore, death metal, or symphonic black metal. Yep- even I have to have a palate cleanser or reset or guilty pleasure, or whatever you want to call it.

And for me, it’s super cheesy power metal. And not normal power metal- I fall hard for the super bouncy, synth-driven or high fantasy stuff like Twilight Force, Windrose, Beast in Black, etc, and currently that itch is being scratched by the recent Sabaton album, Legends, and the 6th album from Finland’s Battle Beast. And I’m still mad that COVID forced me to miss their US tour in 2022.

I’ve enjoyed the last couple of efforts from these guys, 2022’s Circus of Doom and 2019’s No More Hollywood Endings, and Steelbound makes no changes to the sugary sweet formula that mixes big,  catchy power metal and more traditional heavy metal. All driven by powerhouse Noora Louhimo, whose voice is still one of the most powerful in the genre.

Battle Beast‘s bread and butter is rousing, almost 80s montage-sounding glam/heavy metal (opener “The Burning Within”, “Here We Are”, “Steelbound”, “Last Goodbye”, and Heart-ish, radio friendly “Angel of Midnight”), with huge, anthemic choruses meant for open roads and open car windows, that is a stone’s throw from the hair bands of the 80s. I dare you not to grin and sing along to the chorus of that soaring opening track. I guarantee it will put you in a better mood instantly. Only “Twilight Cabaret” missed the mark for me.

But for me, the more bombastic, epic, more symphonic-driven sounds are where Battle Beast hit the mark for me. And the album’s last quarter has much more of it, starting with the 2-minute cinematic number “The Long Road”.  Then the blaring “Blood of Heroes”, arguably one of the best, most epic songs the band has penned,  could be a Manowar number with a soaring, blood-pumping chorus. While the simply addictive “Riders of the Storm” has another chorus to die for (I hope videos are coming for either/both). The closer “Watch the Sky Fall” ends the album on a killer, anthemic end note.

Like the albums before it, Steelbound is the direct dopamine shot into your ears that the world needs right now.

[Visit the band's website]

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