873. Battle Beast / Unholy Savior. 2015. 3/5

The one main thing that Battle Beast has in its favour is that they don't follow the usual power metal or Euro speed metal path like many of their contemporaries do. they have their own unique style, one where they mix different elements of both of these genres along with a pop influence, and cobble together a sound that both enthralls and frustrates you in the same instant. I like the fact that the keyboards are here within the mix, but they do not dominate like some other better known power metal bands. They enhance what is there but don't overawe the drums and guitars and vocals, and I think this works for the best. After the promise of the first two albums there was some living up to do here.

Everything is in order early on, with "Lionheart" bursting through the seams of the disc to open proceedings with a bang. From here it flows into the title track "Unholy Savior" which also lives up to that promise, utilising speed and heavy emoting in the lyrics to get the best out of the material. When this band is on song, they are simply terrific. "I Want the World... and Everything Else" is a barnstorming stompfest, mixing together the high ranging vocals with hard hitting drums and great guitar riffs. "Madness" motors along thanks to the double kick driving the song at a decent clip and a catchy chorus that has you singing along with gusto.
The downside is the slower, ballad-like, dreary songs that really fail to bring anything to the table. Seriously, if you are going to harp on the speed pop metal aspect of the music you are writing, then you should stay in that form rather than then trying to go for the soft rock ballad style. "Sea of Dreams" enter the album at about the halfway mark and completely kills all of the momentum that had built up preceding it. The fact that I abhor these kind of songs probably doesn't help it from the start, but the crime of halting what had been a pretty good album to this point is a mandatory sentence. It makes even less sense when it is followed by the speed/power metal song "Speed and Danger" which again blazes along with double kick and extreme pitched vocals combined with the cartoonish keyboards and then outstanding guitar solo break. Why on earth throw a slow ballad in to break up these songs?
Then there is the very 1980's ABBA-sounding pop revolution "Touch in the Night". Honestly, it sounds like a love theme from a really bad 1980's teen movie, something like Zapped! or Revenge of the Nerds. The ridiculous part about it is that it is rather catchy when you listen to it, but that doesn't change the fact that it is not in the character of the rest of the better songs on the album. Ditto that with "Hero's Quest", the instrumental that has those same kind of characteristics, which very much brings back flashbacks of the 80's for me. And while "Far Far Away" is a song that holds its own with the best from the first half of the album, the closer "Angel Cry" harks back to similar territory as "Sea of Dreams" and completely crushes the enthusiasm one holds because of it. Again, I cannot understand the thought processes of finishing the album with this type of song, after the style that had come in the first half of the album. Desperately disappointing.

The majority of this album is tremendously entertaining, regardless of the style of music you prefer to listen to. What probably holds it back from being a better album is the amount of experimentation that goes on with the songs on the album. While a third of the album is excellent fast power metal based music, and a third probably sits comfortably in that likeable pop metal genre that makes you smile rather than headbang, the final third drags its sorry arse in the realm of gagging ballads that doesn't mix well with the other ingredients. In the long run there is enough here for me that I enjoy the album whenever it has come up in my rotation, but those few songs that don't agree with me drag its enjoyment levels down from where they could have been.

Rating:  No way I'm gonna let my dream slip through my hands.  3/5.

784. Battle Beast / Steel. 2011. 3/5

Someone - whose name and identity has slipped my mind in the time since - recommended to me that I should check this band out, given that I have an affinity for European power metal bands. This album was forwarded to me to gauge my reaction. I'm still not sure what my reaction is.

Musically it has all of the elements that makes successful power metal bands. With two guitarists in the band, the keyboards do not dominate as much as other bands of the genre have, which initially helps to sell this album to me. As much as I can appreciate the keyboard being a heavy player in this style of metal, sometimes it can be overpowering and just take over a bit too much. For the most part here though, it is present and noticeable in the songs, but it is the twin guitars that enjoy the majority of riffing and soloing. Add to this the solid rhythm section of double kick drums along with the effective if simplified bass work and the basis of some great songs appears set.
So, what is it that stops me from fully embracing this album? In the main, it is the lead singing of Nitte Valo. The vocals are just too way over the top for my liking. We all know what power metal is supposed to be like and we know that the vocals have got to be high, and they need to be able to reach the limits of the human voice when it comes to hitting those high notes. Unfortunately, the vocals chords of Nitte come as close to a screech as is possible without actually breaking into one - or maybe they do, and it has been cleverly hidden. In the long run, they feel and sound uncomfortable. It just doesn't sound like singing, it sounds like wailing, and that just isn't the same. Even her normal level singing doesn't quite fit what I was expected or wished to hear. You can check out "Iron Hand" as an example. It's just too much vocally, which somewhat overshadows what otherwise could be a quite effective song. She does sometimes sound like she wants to be a female version of Accept's Udo Dirkschneider. Scary. However, having harped on this far too long, it comes across slightly hypocritical in that I listen to death metal bands whose vocals are uninterpretable because of their grunt gruff screaming, and accept it.

Putting this aside for the moment, this is an otherwise serviceable debut album. Opening with "Enter the Metal World" we get a solid based song that certainly imitates an Accept song, with some attempted Yngwie Malmsteen solos thrown in as well. "Cyberspace" has a very Gamma Ray-like sound to it, both musically and the harmony of the vocals. "Show Me How to Die" goes on far too much with this exclamation during the chorus, extending out beyond what is feasible or even vaguely interesting. "Savage and Saint" as a power ballad is neither enough of a ballad to satisfy those fans, nor enough of a melody to pull in those without a love of this kind of song.

As much as this tries to pull at the heart strings of a metal lover, for me this ends up being just an average release. There would certainly be an audience for this out there, but given everything else that is being recorded in the world at the moment this doesn't quite reach the necessary heights. Despite the criticism I have directed here, there is certainly a platform for launching off in the future.

Rating:  Enter the metal world.  3/5.