BEAST IN BLACK
“BERSERKER”
Album Review by Mike Hackenschmidt
10/10
“You have to be mentally insane to not love this album.” – Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish)
And with that quote I no longer feel shame for going full fanboy for this review. I’ve been a fan of Anton Kabenen since late 2014 when I picked up a copy of Battle Beast’s self-titled sophomore epic because I thought the cover looked amazing. I popped it into my CD player and in minutes I realized I’d found something special. It took me less than a week to find their debut album, Steel, online so I quickly bought that up as well. After almost 30 years citing Manowar as my favorite band, I realized they finally had an adequate challenger; a usurper, in fact. The self-titled masterpiece replaced Battle Hymns, my long-standing favorite album. Steel landed in 5th. Their 3rd album, Unholy Saviour is good but doesn’t hold up to the first 2.
It wasn’t long before things went bad and Anton was pushed out of Battle Beast. He was the pillar of the band; lead guitarist, supporting vocalist and chief song writer. Many fans might see this as a disaster, but when bands break up we often end up with 2 or more great acts instead (example Helloween breakups lead to Gamma Ray and Masterplan). I guess Anton saw it the same way, as the promo package wishes them well with Anton recognizing the legacy he has left. (Battle Beast’s 4th album, Bringer of Pain is worth picking up). Regardless he quickly sprung back assembling a new band whose on-stage debut was in support of Nightwish (no shit!!!). Shortly thereafter they recorded Berserker and landed a deal with Nuclear Blast. So, after 2+ agonizing years (for me), here we are! Beast in Black’s Berserker is about to be reviewed by a mega-fan with extremely high expectations.
Starting with the cover… FUCK! If I didn’t already have blue balls for this album I would have bought it for the artwork alone. Roman Ismailov also did the art on Steel, though I have to say his work here on Berserker is far superior. Yes, it might strike some as cheesy. Personally, I think metal should have a little cheese.
Normally I’ll present the singles in order they appear on the album but in this case, I’m going to start with the first one released because it’s the first thing I heard of Beast in Black, aside from a few poorly recorded fan videos off YouTube. Blind and Frozen, track 2, starts out with synth which becomes the atmosphere supporting the rhythms which start shortly thereafter. Yannis Popodopoulos casts the opening scream, forcing me to learn his name. Thankfully, Anton’s song writing style has not changed. He’s written very few straight-forward songs. They always speed up and slow down. Nothing is intuitive to me. I expect him to zig, he zags. I think he’s going to zag and he books a keyboard break… and I think that break is climaxing and instead it steps up a notch. This is one of the key problems with Anton’s song writing; you can’t fully appreciate it on the first listen because you’re never quite sure when to cum. If you go to0 soon, it could have been much better. Too late and the moment has passed. Anton has re-invented the repeat button.
Beast in Black, the second single opens Berserker with a bang! This is fast and heavy, where Blind and Frozen was a bit more of a ballad. I have a harder time following the fast ones. They chose this for a lyric video which is great because I needed to learn them anyway. Anton contributes more to the vocals on this track which is great because he’s got such a unique voice. When I first heard him I thought he sounded like Halford but after hearing his songs literally thousands of times, I can’t hear it anymore. You will notice him on the chorus, he’s unmistakable. I think he could be doing the lead vocals but instead he steps back and lets Yannis handle that. In this respect, he’s quite generous with his band members. If you look in the photo, he’s 2nd from the right (not in the centre). In the album sleeves he never lists himself first, despite being the figurehead. I find that rather admirable.
Sadly, for those who haven’t got the album, that’s the last video released. What happens next is interesting, to say the least. Some of the albums typically listed as the best ever typically have a few hits but nearly all have one thing in common: filler, a concept Anton clearly does not understand. So normally I’ll just touch the earworms, but Berserker is a nest.
Blood of a Lion has possibly the most majestic sound I’ve ever heard. I’ve been thinking of getting a tattoo to match my Sign of the Hammer… I now know it‘ll be the head of the Beast in Black with Blood of a Lion written below. Born Again is catchy and utilizes Yannis to the fullest. Zodd the Immortal is hard and heavy in the likeness of Raven from the Battle Beast self-titled. The Fifth Angel could easily be the favorite depending on the listener, but it has the most unfortunate position on the album, which I’ll explain in the next paragraph.
So, here’s the next major problem with Berserker: Crazy, Mad, Insane. If I had to describe it in 3 words, I would say it’s Crazy, Mad, Insane. If I had to compare it to anything I’ve ever heard, it would be Halcyon Days by Stratovarius. Autotune and heavy, heavy synth opens a track that one might imagine playing at a dance club. The lyrics “I am crazy, mad, insane. Out of my brain. I am all the things you hate” complement the highly unorthodox blend of 80’s synth pop fused with metal. There’s even an over-the-top synth-break-to-end-all-synth-breaks which is followed by another verse and a big old “FUCK YOU” to whoever the unlucky fuck is that this song is directed towards. I have a guess, but I can’t possibly confirm. (Regardless – “Getting angry is like eating rat poison and thinking the rat will die” – Pema Chodron). So, the problem I mentioned before is the fact that this track works. It works in a way that’s slightly embarrassing to admit. Fifth Angel has the most unfortunate position on the album because once I get past track 3 or 4, I wanna skip to Crazy, Mad, Insane because I can’t wait to hear it again and again and again. Give me another few months (years) and I’ll play it out.
Once I’m done hammering the repeat button, Eternal Fire has yet another majestic rhythm and grabby tune that I’ve found stuck in my head several times over the past week that I’ve been allowed to digest this magnum opus. End of the World is a noteworthy track in a sea of note-worthy tracks. It’s almost tiring getting near the end of the album, adrenalin drained – vocal chords sore from singing along (poorly and with wrong words) and thankfully the album ends on a slow note. Ghost in the Rain is a true ballad, end to end with powerful vocals that eases the listener out of the album. I also see 2 further tracks listed in the Apple Music version that are not in my preview copy. I can’t wait to hear Hell for All Eternity and Go to Hell, which are woven between other tracks (not just at the end). I’m hoping they ended up on the album but I won’t know until tomorrow (is it Christmas?). I’m so glad I’ve got the advanced copy as it makes writing album reviews pro-bono worthwhile. But if I didn’t have that, I could still stream until my CD and shirt come in the mail.
In closing, I’m not sure where this album ranks overall. It’s definitely in my top 25 but could easily find its way much higher. I don’t make those decisions quickly because I need to weigh the album’s staying power. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I’ll have to give it a few hundred more listens until I can give it an official ranking (sigh). Sorry but there won’t be an update. For now, I’m just going to call it my current front runner for album of the year. With less than 2 months remaining in 2017, it’s pretty well official but I’m always willing to keep an open mind.
TRACKLIST
Beast In Black
Blind and Frozen
Heart of a Lion
Born Again
Zodd the Immortal
The Fifth Angel
Crazy, Mad, Insane
Eternal Fire
End of the World
Ghost in the Rain
Released: 3rd Nov 2017 via Nuclear Blast Records.
http://beastinblack.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beastinblackofficial/
https://www.nuclearblast.de/beastinblack
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