Review Summary: There’s a fucking circus in town!
Battle Beast’s
Circus Of Doom is a left of field record. Like seriously, where the fuc
k did this come from? Big pipes, bombastic musicianship and hooks. ***i
ng hooks. It’s hard not to sing along with Battle Beast’s grandeur, over the top antics and 80s inspired anthems. It’s important that I mention this, mostly because
Circus Of Doom is (not has) a callback to power metal and the godfathers of heavy metal. Vague? Let me clarify and bring Battle Beast’s newest just that little closer to home. Light keys introduce the record’s opening (and title track) and immediately listeners are dosed with some clear-cut influences bleed through the speakers: Nightwish, Lordi and Hammerfall references all come easily, but if we dive a little deeper (and if you can forgive some less than casual name-dropping…) touches from the likes of Dio, Helloween, Judas Priest and even King Diamond/Mercyful Fate can be heard within. Needless to say, this Finnish act has found the best of their symphonic soundscapes while channeling the grand notes of metal’s pioneering early days.
Surely that’s enough hyperbole? No, none of this is hyperbole. It’s a sincere, true (trve) and honest take of a group finally earning their stripes after half a dozen releases. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect, but it is
fun and sometimes that’s all that matters.
Circus Of Doom is an album of anthems, hits, bops and bangers (not the mash) made for the live settings, the crowds and the fans both old and new. Fast, stomping beats punch from “Wings of Light” while vocalist Noora Louhimo channels sonorous highs, invoking the very heights to which I'm happy to drop a guilt-free King Diamond reference.
Even as we steadily make our way through “Master of Illusion” and “Where Angels Fear to Fly” there’s a notable edge of familiarity that seeps from Battle Beast’s arena rock foundations. This acquaintance between band and listener firms the new album’s central hold through use of soaring melody and vocal hooks of grandeur (especially noticeable in the latter of those two examples). While “Where Angels Fear to Fly” may lean too heavily into tired similes (darkest before the dawn/die to be reborn), the sentiment behind the vocal clichés are that of hopefulness, power and triumph over adversity. A message we can all take on ourselves in one way or another. Deeper cuts, like those of “Russian Roulette” can be forgiven for their tendency to sound like they’re introducing a game show—mostly because they follow the same paths as what has come before them, but there’s a feeling that some of the album’s sound is washing together into measurable autopilot; hook, guitar solo, soaring vocal lines,
more hooks and melody dialed up to eleven. These tracks continue to pound in (hammer and nail) the band’s message, but a casual listener could be forgiven for sticking to choicer, juicier, less used motifs in order to get
Circus Of Doom’s atmosphere, mood and theme.
Even as the record comes to a close it’s easy to recognise that
Circus Of Doom has faults, although very little of them have anything to do with instrument proficiency, talent or baser song-writing skills. Battle Beast’s 2022 effort is chock full of the
good stuff and just enough for me to fawn over. In summarising the album’s strengths however, it’s clear that
Circus Of Doom is top heavy, with most of the record’s hits in the first half. That said, I don’t want to dismiss the immense musicianship on offer here, catapulted to the forefront with ample vocal talent and seemingly never-ending amounts of melody. The album’s biggest selling point however is that it has come largely out of the blue. Surprise additions this early in the year just have a way of tilting perspective and right now, that’s all I need.
