1106. Beast in Black / Berserker. 2017. 3/5

Power metal has never been more pop metal than what Battle Beast has released since their inception, and while too much of a good thing can be too much, it has been a solid career for that band in that genre. As such, the departure of Anton Kabanen from Battle Beast over that old chestnut of ‘musical direction’ is an interesting one, as the subsequent albums released by both don’t really reveal too much difference, because they both still have the same musical quality as those original Battle Beast albums. What it does reveal is that Anton has a singular style of music running through his head, and it continues on that path here on his new band’s debut release Berserker.

So, there’s no real surprise that this sounds like a Battle Beast album, and it is all the better for it. It starts off with a bang, showing off all of those qualities that those who enjoy his previous band were in it for. It is fast paced with that pop tinge, great drums dictating the flow, solid base rhythms undertowing each song, hard guitar riffs and soling mixed in with the inevitable synths and keyboards, and soaring vocals that keep their anthemic qualities throughout.
More than anything else, it’s fun! The music is heavily borrowing from the 1980’s new wave pop genre, with foot-tapping and head-nodding uplifting tracks that would fit in perfectly in a retro dance club. In fact some of the songs would hardly skip a beat if they were thrown on in just such clubs. It’s the synths and keyboards that give it this era-defining quality and while that won’t suit all people’s tastes it does separate Beats in Black’s debut from other power metal albums that are being released. On some tracks it gets a bit much - “Crazy, Mad, Insane” for one just goes too far in that direction with its almost techno-like influences, moving too far beyond the blurred line to enjoy as a metal song and not just a retro track. This has all the sampling and other tricks of the trade from the worst pop songs of the 1980’s and kills off most of the enjoyment for me at least – I don’t mind 80’s pop as I grew up in that era, but it doesn’t make the bad stuff any more likeable. “Ghost in the Rain”, the closing track on the album, is another piece of deadwood, draining all of the energy from the album in a limp and disappointing finish to an album that deserved a better fate this this.
Within this framework are some really fun and energetic songs. The title song “Berzerker” opens the album up nicely, and is followed by “Blind and Frozen” and “Blood of a Lion” where vocalist Yannis Papadopoulos really fires up and shows off his pipes, and a real metal riff blazes throughout. “Born Again” does the same, while “Zodd the Immortal” brings a nice tangent to these tracks with a deeper vocal and a change in riffage along the way.

Is this the greatest form of metal music? No, that’s not what I’m able to say. Is it enjoyable and a mood changer when you put it on? My word yes, it certainly is. There are some really good songs here and then there are others that just vary too much to hold the interest all the way through. The first half of the album is high quality in my opinion, but it doesn’t finish off with the same flourish.

Best songs: “Blind and Frozen” “Blood of a Lion”, “Born Again”, “Zodd the Immortal”.

Rating:  “I will wait for tomorrow, that may never come.”   3/5