Album Review: Battle Beast – Circus of Doom
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
When it comes to fist-pumping, melodic and anthemic power metal, Battle Beast are one of the bands leading the charge right now and making huge waves all across the globe. Forming back in 2005, Battle Beast has put out a string of well received and high selling albums with Circus Of Doom being the sixth full length from the Finnish band.
The band have become well known for their big anthems and poppy hooks and that sound is still very much prevalent during Circus Of Doom but the band has also provided some variation on the album whilst still remaining 100% true to the Battle Beast sound. One aspect of their sound pushed to the fore is a more epic, symphonic sound which was previously explored on the last album No More Hollywood Endings. This sound really comes to the fore in the bombastic title track which opens the album and the single Where Angels Fear To Fly.
You get the big anthemic songs such as Wings Of Light and Eye Of The Storm which have hooks so huge they threaten to cause injury whilst you have Europop cheese-fests such as Russian Roulette and Armageddon which are so catchy they are impossible to dislike. My personal favourite of the album is Freedom which is catchy as hell (a recurring theme on this album) as well as containing plenty of power metal gallop. The not so secret weapon that Battle Beast have in their arsenal is singer Noora Louhimo whose stratospheric powerhouse vocals are a wonder to behold. Here she sounds better than ever and the songs all work to her strengths as a singer.
Circus Of Doom is another success for Battle Beast. It mixes astonishing singing, fantastic musicianship and expertly crafted songwriting together in ten potent songs that should have power metal fans jumping up and down. My foot wouldn’t stay still during the album which is always a good sign. If you want big anthems, huge hooks and big wedges of cheese then this is a must hear album.
