The album starts with ‘The Burning Within‘, one of the harder songs of the album. A captivating mixture of catchiness, uplifting lyrics, nice riffs and a beat that makes me wanna dance and simultaneously headbang. A great way to start in my opinion, as the song consists of all the important aspects of Battle Beast‘s sound but still feels fresh.

‘Here We Are‘ is a short, sweet, and easy to digest poppy number. While it’s a very radio friendly choice for a second single it still has Battle Beast‘s essence at heart and while I don’t think it’s the most remarkable song they have ever written I still enjoy it a lot. It’s just really easy to listen to over and over again.

‘Steelbound‘ might be the most addictively catchy song I’ve heard recently. I’m not a huge fan of the spoken, wannabe rap part towards the end of the song, as I don’t think it really adds much to the song. But I love the empowering message it’s spreading, it’s like an anthem for the misfits.

‘Twilight Cabaret‘ is in my opinion the quirkiest song on the album. The samba beat and general happy vibe of the song stand in stark contrast to the serious lyrics. You could take this song as a sequel to ‘King for a Day’, or as an F… You to a specific Russian politician perhaps. I’m fairly certain that this is one of Janne Björkroths songs, it just has this slightly insane vibe to it, but in a way it is exactly this absurdity that makes this song work so well.

I’m having mixed feelings about ‘Last Goodbye‘, the first single of the album. On one hand it’s a solid and catchy song, on the other it just sounds too familiar in my opinion. Upon first listen my partner actually asked me if I was sure that this was a new song and I don’t blame him, this song could just as well been on ‘Hollywood Endings‘ or ‘Circus of Doom‘. I do like Noora‘s vocals especially much on this track though.

‘The Long Road‘ is a fully instrumental track, which is something Battle Beast haven’t done since ‘Hero’s Quest‘ 10 years ago. I think this would make a great new intro for their live gigs, I could absolutely see Noora floating into the stage to this song before knocking us out with her voice. Alternatively, this would also make a theme song for an adventure video game.

‘Blood Of Heroes‘ most interesting feature is the flute part at 2:40 minutes. It’s not like the rest of the song isn’t good either, it’s just nice to see Battle Beast implementing some new things into their sound. Overall, this feels like an epic battle hymn.

‘Angel Of Midnight‘ is a fun number with a fresh touch, or well actually a touch of the 80s. Songwriter Eero Sipilä called it a nod to hard rock legends like Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, the first band that came into my mind though was the Finnish glam metal band Reckless Love. And honestly I’m not mad about it, it’s fun, and it’s certainly very catchy.

‘Riders Of The Storm‘ is yet again incredibly catchy. I love the little piano sequence in the middle of the song. The song does remind me of ‘Bastard Son Of Odin‘ from the 2017 released  ‘Bringer Of Pain‘, it has the same slightly goofy energy. This is a song I can definitely see myself having a good time with, a party with friends or just cruising through the city on a sunny day, a song perfect to just forget your worries for a bit.

The last song of the album ‘Watch The Sky Fall‘ is a little less light-hearted. The lyric/vocals as well as the bass line in the intro make it feel rather heavy, but luckily there is a cheeky little keyboard melody going on to soften it a bit. I’m not a big fan of Noora‘s vocals during the bridge section of this song, I just don’t think that’s quite within the vocal range she shines in. The song, and the album, ends with a big epic boom.

In the end this album certainly fulfilled my expectations, although I’d wish it would be a bit longer, but to be fair most albums these days feel too short for my liking. Overall though, I really like the album. It includes all the best elements of Battle Beast‘s previous albums and combines them with new and even better elements. These guys (and girl) have really grown into fantastic musicians over the years.

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