The concept of playing pure old-fashioned metal is something of a tightrope walk (and I promise that’s my last “circus” analogy). If you stay too pure, there’s an argument that you’re being redundant and endlessly retreading old ground, but if you switch up the formula too much, you’ll lose what makes you pure, and alienate the fanbase. Getting the right balance is something that few bands with any longevity manage, but that almost all struggle with.
Battle Beast, since its formation in 2005, has been through a lot of radical personnel changes. In 2012, they changed their singer and then, in 2015, guitarist/songwriter Anton Kabanen left the band to form Beast In Black. Despite these seismic shifts that may have broken lesser bands, you can still trace a very clear line from their debut, Steel, all the way to Circus of Doom, their sixth full-lengther. It’s unmistakably Battle Beast and Battle Beast at their most defiantly Battle Beast to boot.
However, it’s maybe not been the straightest line to draw. (more…)