{"id":507407,"date":"2025-10-17T18:04:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T18:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/507407\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T18:04:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T18:04:13","slug":"battle-beast-steelbound-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/507407\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle Beast – Steelbound Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong>Steelbound, Battle Beast<\/strong>\u2019s seventh full-length album, struts forth boasting bubblegum choruses and sticky refrains that, upon contact, are sure to plague your showers and commutes for days afterward. For the uninitiated, the sextet from Helsinki, Finland, plays pop-infused power metal with anthemic, uplifting gusto and broad appeal. Battle Beast<\/strong> simmers with talent, but it\u2019s singer Noora Louhimo that steals the show with her powerhouse range and grit, the perfect voice to broadcast the positivity and pluck that Battle Beast<\/strong> engenders. After years of snacking on sweetmeats, though, has the candy coating left this Beast<\/strong>\u2019s fangs riddled with cavities, or are the teeth still mighty enough to bring the pain?<\/p>\n

Except for the time Steel<\/strong> fell head-over-monkey\u2019s paw for debut Steel<\/a>, Battle Beast <\/strong>has languished in mixed-to-good territory. The self-titled sophomore effort<\/a> saturated its sound with Europop, and follow-up Unholy Savior<\/a> tried to blend the styles of the first two albums, creating an uneven listen. Afterwards, guitarist Anton Kabanen left to form Beast in Black<\/strong>, and Battle Beast<\/strong> forged on with Brymir<\/strong>\u2019s Joona Bj\u00f6rkroth on six-string duty with nary a lineup change since. The subsequent albums have followed the tried-and-true formula of sub-forty-five-minute runtimes (less bonus tracks), concise track lengths and enough earworms to warrant a prescription for Ivermectin. Steelbound follows suit, adhering to the blueprint honed over the last few albums.<\/p>\n

Every nook and cranny of Steelbound\u2019s ten tracks drips with polish, where each second is crafted to be damnably catchy and take root in your earhole. From the chest-thumping mantra in \u201cHere We Are\u201d to the Latin-inspired rhythms in \u201cTwilight Cabaret,\u201d Battle Beast <\/strong>marches their aural cavalcade about town, tossing out fun-sized bites to on listeners by the fistful. Besides forgettable interlude \u201cThe Long Road,\u201d each song is engineered to ensnare your attention with belt-along choruses and dancy grooves, harkening influences from ABBA<\/strong> (\u201cSteelbound\u201d) to Spice Girls<\/strong> (\u201cTwilight Cabaret\u201d). Finnish treasure Noora sinks her sonic barbs into your brain, but she\u2019s not the only weapon this Battle<\/strong> Beast<\/strong> wields\u2014guitar chugs, solos and drum fills ground Steelbound with metal roots amongst the synth-addled retro vibes. Knowing what to listen for, the Brymir<\/strong> injection is obvious and welcome, coating songs with succinct shredding that sparkles without ever approaching self-aggrandizement. Meanwhile, Pyry Vikki\u2019s drumming suits the music perfectly, lurking in the pocket until summoned forth to unleash a drum break. The flamboyant keys (courtesy of Janne Bj\u00f6rkroth) rarely allow you to escape 80s sensibilities, and the rhythm and bass guitar reinforce Steelbound\u2019s mood without ever intruding or stealing the spotlight.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As ever, Battle Beast<\/strong> marries Eurovision-ready melodies with heavy metal to craft an accessible palette for any age or disposition. This is entry-level metal, and I don\u2019t mean that derisively. There\u2019s a path most of us take to blossom into the opinionated, fetid elitists we are today, and it\u2019s not usually jumping straight from T-Swift<\/strong> to Portal<\/strong> in a single bound. Yet what makes Battle Beast<\/strong> so digestible is also what hamstrings the band\u2014the song craft is too safe. Steelbound is at its best when toeing the line between danger and pop inclinations, but it happens too infrequently. Title track \u201cSteelbound\u201d features a calculated chorus that\u2019s enchanting, and two-thirds through the song, there\u2019s a call-and-response section where Noora musters her full grit and the music feels genuine, like it could almost go off the rails. It doesn\u2019t, but this organic moment sticks out as one that hasn\u2019t been carefully curated and vetted in a focus group. There\u2019s undeniable talent here, but when every song feels like it\u2019s manufactured rather than tailored, the end result lacks conviction.<\/p>\n

Steelbound prioritizes hooks over substance, which proves out after repeated listens. The irrationally captivating \u201cHere We Are\u201d and other choice moments are instantly recognizable, but between entire songs, the fun can blur together. It\u2019s a shame, because the band possesses all the pieces to write something truly special, but the reason I can rely on Battle Beast<\/strong> to be a dependable comfort listen is the same thing that holds them back. Avoiding any risks handcuffs their ability to move past the ceiling they\u2019ve fabricated for themselves. Some of the songs on Steelbound will stick with you like sugary treats wedged between your teeth. They\u2019ll be with you for a day or two, but eventually you dislodge the saccharine gob, brush your teeth, and find something with more sustenance.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: Mixed
DR<\/strong>: 6 | Format Reviewed<\/strong>: 320 kbps mp3
Label<\/strong>: Nuclear Blast<\/a>
Websites<\/strong>: Website<\/a> | Facebook<\/a>
Releases Worldwide<\/strong>: October 17th, 2025<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelbound, Battle Beast\u2019s seventh full-length album, struts forth boasting bubblegum choruses and sticky refrains that, upon contact, are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3936],"tags":[20843,743,53431,166089,166090,166091,77,48812,33693,269,23587,156239,166092,24760,6080,6082,29220,166093,8733,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-507407","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-2-5","9":"tag-743","10":"tag-abba","11":"tag-battle-beast","12":"tag-beast-in-black","13":"tag-brymir","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-finnish-metal","16":"tag-heavy-metal","17":"tag-music","18":"tag-nuclear-blast","19":"tag-oct25","20":"tag-portal","21":"tag-power-metal","22":"tag-review","23":"tag-reviews","24":"tag-spice-girls","25":"tag-steelbound","26":"tag-taylor-swift","27":"tag-uk","28":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}