Battle Beast – 'No More Hollywood Endings' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. Unbroken

2. No More Hollywood Endings

3. Eden

4. Unfairy Tales

5. Endless Summer

6. The Hero

7. Piece Of Me

8. I Wish

9. Raise Your Fists

10. The Golden Horde

11. World On Fire

I knew I was going to like this album by the time I was two and a half minutes into the opening track – 'Unbroken'. What a cracker of a way to start an album! I know that Symphonic, Orchestral Metal is not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea – but I think we can all agree that 'Unbroken' needs to be on anyone’s playlist of the year. This is a cracking start to a brilliant album.

Let me back up a little. For those of you who had never encountered Battle Beast (which included myself before this review), they are a Finnish Symphonic Metal band who have been around for around 14 years. They may not lean into the Orchestral / Symphonic aspect quite as much as some of the more famous examples of the genre, but actually I think it’s a perfect fit for their sound.

They aren’t afraid of embracing slightly different styles and invoking the feel of other bands either – 'Unfairy Tales' in particular feels like a twist on the typical 80’s Rock/Metal genre – the opening could be a Bon Jovi song, and the chorus could have been crafted by any of the 80’s Hair Metal gods themselves.

Even 'I Wish', the typical middle of the album ballad is better than I was expecting it to be. This may be due to the invoking of Peter Pan in the lyrics, which will always tie it to a very dear friend of mine, but still it’s an interesting and moving addition to the album which provides a slower moment just when it is needed.

This album has some absolutely amazing songs on it. I’ve already mentioned 'Unbroken' (which, in case you didn’t read my opening paragraph, is an absolute banger), and my other favourites include 'Eden', 'Piece Of Me' (for which I adore the opening riff), and 'The Golden Horde', which is just a galloping musical stallion zooming along at a breakneck pace.

Battle Beast deserve to be bigger than they are (certainly here in the UK, I can’t speak for other countries!). If you are a lover of female-fronted Metal, then there is a huge amount here for you to enjoy.