DippoMagoo
After being instantly won over by the super cheesy retro heavy metal sound of Battle Beast's debut Steel in 2011, it appeared I had a new favorite band in the genre. Everything from the killer riffs and instantly memorable choruses to the ultra cheesy but awesome wails of vocalist Nitte Valo left me amazed and wanting to hear more from the band. Sadly, Nitte left in 2012, and my excitement for the band mostly went away, because I didn't think it was possible to find another female vocalist capable of the kind of dynamic, explosive performances she gave on songs like "Enter the Metal World", "Justice in Metal" and "Savage and Saint". Then in 2013 their self-titled sophomore release came, and while I wasn't as impressed by the actual songwriting, new singer Noora Louhimo renewed my hope for the band, sounding almost as good as Nitte. Now with their third album Unholy Savior, it seems everything has come together for the band, resulting in an absolute thriller of an album.
They've evolved a lot since their debut, and at this point they have become a much different kind of beast. There's still some classic heavy metal to be found here, but their self-titled album showed them emphasizing the keyboards more and including more power metal songs, and this album shows them going even further in that direction, especially on speedier tracks like "Lionheart" and "Madness". In fact, there's a very strong Euro power metal feel to this release, which is certainly to my liking. Even slower songs like the title track showcase a much more melodic sound than expected, with the keyboards being very much at the front of the sound.
On her second album with Battle Beast, Noora has fully established herself as the voice of the band, and she has upped her game considerably, at times almost making me forget they even had a different singer before. She seems much more confident in using her high pitched wails on this album, and at times she comes very close to matching Nitte when it comes to epic, cheesy screamed vocals. Her softer vocals were a strength before, and on this album she gets to showcase them even more, effectively mixing in her soft and pleasant lower register with those epic screams on the two ballads "Sea of Dreams" and "Angels Cry", which are both very effective just because of how good she is. On the self-titled album, I found the AC/DC soundalike male vocals a bit irritating and unnecessary, but on this album they're used mostly in quick bursts and in support of Noora, so they work a lot better this time around.
On the whole, the first half of the album is much stronger than the second half. The opener "Lionheart" is an instant power metal classic, with a memorable opening, fun verses and an extremely catchy chorus, while the title track and "Madness" are also a ton of fun. Even better is the song "I Want the World and Everything In It", which begins with a silly voiceover, but quickly turns into the most classic heavy metal sounding track on the album, with the male vocals mixing in very well with Noora during the chorus, and giving the song an extra boost of energy. Even the ballad "Sea of Dreams" is great, for reasons I mentioned above. But my favorite track comes just past the halfway point, and that is "Speed and Danger". This ultra fast, ultra catchy song would fit in wonderfully on a classic Euro power metal album, and it's the kind of song that causes me to get uncontrollably excited every time I hear it. The mix of wails and epic power metal vocals during the chorus especially cause me to lose control sometimes.
After that, the album gets a bit weird. Some may hate the 80's synth pop influenced single "Touch in the Night", but I quite like it. The bouncy melodies and tasteful keyboards give it a nice feel and of course Noora does an excellent job singing lightly for the most part, only getting in one epic wail near the end. After that, there's a couple nice but all too brief tracks that kinda feel like throwaways, and then the album ends with a ballad, (though as noted above, it's an awesome one, and it's probably even my favorite of the two), so there's really only two heavier tracks during the entire second half. Luckily, the latter of those, "Far Away", is another addictive up tempo track, and it's almost as much fun as "Speed and Danger".
Even with a slightly uneven second half, Unholy Savior manages to be an exciting album, and after several listens it has become my favorite from Battle Beast to date. The increased power metal elements as well as Noora's improved vocals, have helped to make it an album I'm sure I'll be listening to several times over the next few days, and it's an early contender for my favorite heavy/power metal album of 2015.