Grab your leather jacket and sunglasses because Helsinki power-metal five-piece Beast in Black are back! For the uninitiated, Beast In Black was founded by former Battle Beast guitarist Anton Kabanen in 2015 after he unceremoniously departed ways with his former band mates. Beast in Black follows up their debut album Berserker (2017) with sophomore effort From Hell With Love scheduled for release February 8th 2019 via Nuclear Blast ahead of a headline European tour kicking off later this month.
From Hell With Love is on whole an unapologetically fun record and none more so is this evident than with punchy opening track, ‘Cry Out For A Hero’, that demands your full attention right away and is one of the standout tracks on what proves to be a record that will showcase Beast In Black’s full range. A perfect choice to start the record before leading straight into the title track that changes the pace somewhat incorporating synth pop-styled beats, a genre Kabanen has admitted he enjoys experimenting with.
Before long Beast shift things up a gear again for the first single released from the record, ‘Sweet True Lies’. From just these first three tracks you know you’re in for one hell of a ride. The second single to be released, ‘Die By The Blade’ again makes use of synth beats accompanying harmonic yet powerful vocals and crushing guitars, the two singles being fine choices to give a taste of the album. If you have spent any time with the debut Berserker you may agree that this is the natural progression of the bands sound, whilst retaining the same energy and power From Hell With Love differs in that it offers a more compact and defined sound that feels fueled by the confidence provided by the first album that established the band’s intent.
The halfway point of the record is ‘Oceandeep’, a ballad that displays a softer side of the Beast serving as an example of what vocalist Yannis Papadopoulos is capable of when tasked with a gentler track. Complete with huge, blistering solos and pounding drums that serve to drive the track to its hard-hitting and amped up crescendo that you can’t help but chant along with.
Beast In Black encompass all that is great about old school heavy music and put their own spin on it blended together with the patterned Finnish flavour of hard-hitting and full of life metal.
