I was pointed in the direction of the ludicrously wonderfully named Battle Beast by a post on the Nuclear Blast facebook page. They have a new album out today so I had a listen to the low-quality samples on Amazon then went hunting for other tracks.
The name implies battle metal but they’re closer to a traditional old-school heavy metal sound. In fact they take it, work it up to extremes then add a dollops of screamy-vocal cheese on top. If they weren’t genuinely good, they could be another Spinal Tap poking gentle fun at a genre they so obviously love.
Being Finnish obviously gives them automatic metal creds, but the tight musicianship doesn’t do them any harm either. Oh, they have a female vocalist as well if you’re one who searches out bands with singers who don’t look ridiculous in lycra (yes, 1980’s Bruce Dickinson – I’m looking at you, though trying not to…). In fact, they’re onto their second as they changed singers between their first album and this second release.
The video is from their first album (Steel). Their new one is self-titled and can be located pretty much anywhere. The usual further information can be dredged up on their facebook page.