Band: Beast in Black
Album: Beserker
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 3rd of November
I should probably start this review with a disclaimer. I’m not a fan of power metal. Make of that what you will. Although a good album should speak for itself regardless of genre.
Beast in Black was formed by ex Battle Beast guitarist Anton Kabanen shortly after leaving in 2015. By the end of the year, they were already opening for symphonic metal stars Nightwish. So this debut album Beserker has a fair amount of hype around it, and expectations have been high.
Opening the album is the fast-paced Beast in Black and is one of the heaviest tracks on the album. It starts with a Judas Priest, Painkiller era riff, and vocalist Yannis Papadopoulas has an impressive Rob Halford like vocal range. Second track Blind and Frozen is in near complete contrast and is full of cheesy lyrics and keyboards and 80’s pop vocal hooks. This track, for better or worse, is representative of the rest of the album.
The problem is, is that the keyboards and lyrics can be a bit too much at times, and can be difficult to take seriously. With lyrics like “I die to live, I live to love you endlessly” on Born Again, and “I’m crazy mad insane out of my brain” on Crazy, Mad, Insane, it’s hard not to cringe so much that your face implodes. It’s difficult to tell whether the band is taking themselves seriously either, with track Eternal Fire being such a blatant Final Countdown rip off I started to wonder whether this was all a joke.
Whatever their intentions the band have created a ridiculously catchy and over the top album here, even by power metal standards, and the band are obviously made up of talented musicians. If you’re a fan of extremely over the top power metal and cheesy 80’s pop, then you may like this album. Its just all a bit too much for me though. I also defy anyone to be able to take an album seriously with a track like Eternal Fire. Maybe that’s the point.
Rating: 5/10
Reccomended Track: Eternal Fire
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Offical Website: www.beastinblack.com/