{"id":4104,"date":"2012-01-27T00:00:26","date_gmt":"2012-01-27T00:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=4104"},"modified":"2013-07-20T12:05:41","modified_gmt":"2013-07-20T12:05:41","slug":"feature-battle-beast-01-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-battle-beast-01-12\/","title":{"rendered":"BATTLE BEAST – Die-Hard Warriors (January 2012) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

BATTLE BEAST – Die-Hard Warriors<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nJanuary 2012<\/span><\/p>\n

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Battle Beast (l-r): Eero Sipil\u00e4, Juuso Soinio, Pyry Vikki,
Nitte Valo (bottom row), Anton Kabanen and Janne Bj\u00f6rkroth<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Pic: Thomas Adorff<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Hailing from Helsinki, Finland, Battle Beast consist of guitarist and vocalist Anton Kabanen, vocalist Nitte Valo, guitarist Juuso Soinio, bassist and backing vocalist Eero Sipil\u00e4, keyboardist and backing vocalist Janne Bj\u00f6rkroth, and drummer Pyry Vikki. 2008 was the year of their formation, Anton having met Pyry in high school with Juuso being Anton\u2019s friend from earlier days. In high school, the trio initially performed together. \u201cIt\u2019s actually been a pretty long existence for this band,\u201d notes Anton. \u201cMany think that it\u2019s only been three years, but it was actually my dream to form a band when I was maybe ten years old or something. In 2008 after high school, the army, and all that stuff, Pyry, Juuso and I found Nitte, and Eero. Janne then came along in 2009 after a few keyboardist changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Battle Beast\u2019s name spontaneously emerged. \u201cI don\u2019t remember exactly how the name came about, but I just made it up from two different elements that I like,\u201d the axeman remembers. \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty effective name, and represents what we play. I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re familiar with the fact that Battle Beasts are toy figures, and it was some kind of cartoon show in the late 80s or something. We didn\u2019t know until I came up with the name though, so only after that did we find out about these toy figures. It\u2019s quite funny, but it has nothing to do with the band name actually. Many people have asked if our name has some connection with those toy figures.\u201d<\/p>\n

The collective began to play live performances in 2009. \u201cThat was really the beginning,\u201d Anton reckons. \u201cWe recorded some demos, all the basic stuff that every band actually does in the beginning. We tried to play at every place we could, and contacted all the labels in the world and in Finland. We sent our demos everywhere and waited for an answer, but no-one actually answered us \u2013 almost no-one. Anyway, we just kept on playing gigs and sending demos.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alongside Merging Flare, Battle Beast supported Blaze Bayley in May 2010 for four Finnish gigs. \u201cThat was the first big thing that happened,\u201d the singer feels. \u201cIt was really cool supporting Blaze Bayley. Blaze Bayley was a really nice guy, and all the other guys in the band too. It was a really good experience for us; he\u2019s really well known and he\u2019s done all these things, so it was an honour for us to be a part of that. We enjoyed it very much and we learnt a lot of things about how to be as a band, because it was the first time we really played a few shows in a row. Normally we\u2019ve only played one show, and then played another show maybe after two months, one month, or something like that. We played those shows, and after that we participated in the semi-finals of Wacken\u2019s Metal Battle. That was the national version.\u201d<\/p>\n

At August 2010\u2019s Wacken Open Air in Germany, the outfit contended with 26 other outfits as a part of the international Metal Battle competition and emerged victorious. \u201cThe funny thing is that Finland actually has always been pretty late in organising the national version of Metal Battle, so we knew that we had to go Wacken only two to three days before the festival was about to begin,\u201d Anton recalls. \u201cIt was like hell to get those plane tickets. When we got there we realised that half of our luggage was lost by the flight company. We then played the show there at Metal Battle, and we really didn\u2019t have any expectations. To us it was just a gig, but a really good gig at a big event. It was great. The audience enjoy themselves, and when they see a band they scream and put their fists in the air. It was a great feeling because it doesn\u2019t happen always \u2013 sometimes it\u2019s hard to win the audience on your side. When you play at clubs people are maybe afraid or embarrassed to shout out and raise their fists in the air, but at Wacken it\u2019s a totally different feeling. There\u2019s only metalheads, and they\u2019re screaming out, partying, and having a good time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t see it as a competition though, and we had to leave to go back to Finland before the announcement of the Metal Battle winner. We only got to know about the victory one week after the festival, and everyone at the festival during the winners\u2019 announcement were wondering where we were. No-one knew that we had already gone back to Finland, but then we realised in Finland. We checked our MySpace page, and the song listens suddenly skyrocketed; there were maybe 800 to 900 song listens per day, which is really a big amount. Normally there were maybe 30 to 50 song listens per day, but after Metal Battle there were much more. It was a great experience, and we got a lot of attention in the metal scene. In Finland we also got to do some small interviews, so it was a really good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Anton Kabanen<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Pic: Thomas Adorff<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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That same month Battle Beast won the title of \u2018Radio Rock Star 2010\u2019, the competition being organised by Finnish rock radio channel Radio Rock. This would culminate in the issue of inaugural single \u2018Show Me How To Die\u2019, released through Hype Records on January 17th, 2011. \u201cWe had to pick our first single for radio play which was \u2018Show Me How To Die\u2019, because we won that competition that was organised by Radio Rock,\u201d the mainman explains. \u201cWe then recorded the rest of the songs for the album. For us, it was once again \u2013 like the Blaze Bayley tour \u2013 a new thing for us because we had never been to the studio. \u2018Show Me How To Die\u2019 is about the beast\u2019s need to get out of that planet. He\u2019s immortal and he\u2019s trapped in that planet, and the only way he can get out is to die and be reborn on a new planet. He needs to die so he can be reborn somewhere else but that doesn\u2019t happen, at least not on this album. Even though he will die, he will always be reborn. That song is really agonising, where he wants to get out to a better world. Not to die though, so it\u2019s not about suicide. It\u2019s a song about someone wanting a better life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steel<\/em> underwent issue on April 13th, 2011 in Finland. \u201cWe had recorded our demos by ourselves in the rehearsal space where we play, so in the studio we were learning new things,\u201d Anton reveals \u201cRecording started on the last day of November 2010 or something like that, and we didn\u2019t record for all that time \u2013 there were breaks. We recorded in December for maybe one week or something like that, and then we had a few weeks break. We then continued in January, and so on. All in all it took about 20 days to make the record; to record, mix, and master it all took about 20 days. It was finished maybe in February 2011 if I remember correctly, and it was released in April 2011. The feedback\u2019s been mostly good, so in only three years we\u2019ve already done our first record and all these good things have happened to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hype Records oversaw the album\u2019s release in Finland and Sweden. \u201cIt\u2019s a small Finnish label,\u201d the co-founder explains. \u201cThey\u2019ve done this license deal with Nuclear Blast for us, so basically we have two labels that we are working with. Hype Records is the first label we signed with though. It\u2019s a small Finnish label that mainly does releases here in Finland, but also does license deals whenever possible for their bands. Nuclear Blast actually contacted Hype Records and then Hype Records told us, so that\u2019s how the co-operation began. We\u2019re really glad that they finally showed their interest in us, because \u2013 like I said \u2013 in the early days we had sent many demos all around the world. We sent demos to Nuclear Blast so many times, but finally when we didn\u2019t actually expect anything suddenly they contacted Hype Records and showed their interest in us. So, here we are now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki acted as a recording location for Steel<\/em>, with Thunderstone frontman Nino Laurenne handling production duties. \u201cHe designed the soundscape of that album,\u201d Anton surmises. \u201cI was more the songwriter who was telling the players \u2018Lay it down like this,\u2019 \u2018Sing like that,\u2019 and \u2018Let\u2019s do this here.\u2019 Nino gave me free hands; they were my compositions, and he trusted me. Maybe in pop music or something producers pretty much tell musicians \u2018Play like this,\u2019 \u2018Sing like that,\u2019 and \u2018Let\u2019s do a harmony here\u2019 and things like that, but Nino didn\u2019t do that because he trusted that I knew what I wanted to record. It was good to have free hands, but the bad thing is that even though we were there 20 days we still ended up being in quite a hurry towards the end. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would have liked to have stayed a little bit longer to finish all those things, but I think that\u2019s quite normal for every artist because no-one is ever completely satisfied with their work. I don\u2019t want to sound like I\u2019m saying there are bad mistakes on that album, but there are some vocal lines and stuff that could have been sung better, some guitar solos could have been better, and stuff like that. Every musician is always striving though, because it\u2019s hard to impress yourself. I don\u2019t know how people would have reacted if we recorded some parts differently, but it\u2019s a personal fight actually. It\u2019s not there just to please the fans, because we also like to please ourselves when recording.\u201d<\/p>\n

The guitarist tends to author each composition at home alone. \u201cWhen the song is finished I present it to the band and we start to play it and rehearse it, and that\u2019s about it basically,\u201d he tells. \u201cWe don\u2019t write together that much, but in the studio for instance our keyboardist Janne sometimes has good ideas. We then try out those ideas, and if they are better than the original ones we use those better ones. Usually I try to make songs at home alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anton deems Battle Beast\u2019s musical style to be \u201cstraightforward heavy metal. I think that\u2019s the simplest way because there aren\u2019t as many of these kinds of bands out there; most metal bands play technically difficult songs, and they don\u2019t tend to play simple music like we do. I personally think that our album is one of the most simple metal albums out there. It\u2019s rare nowadays to find a metal album that is really simple and enjoyable, and easy to listen to in the catchy way. These are songs that are easy to remember; there aren\u2019t too many elements, and the song structures aren\u2019t so difficult. There aren\u2019t too many parts in our songs. There\u2019s usually maybe three to four parts but to me there\u2019s actually only good and bad music in the end, even though I consider myself a heavy metal purist. I mean, I love bands like Judas Priest, and Manowar, and W.A.S.P., and Black Sabbath<\/a>, and those bands. I think that if some metal bands have the same elements as a pop band though, it doesn\u2019t mean that they are pop. It\u2019s only music in the end, and what sounds good should be used. You shouldn\u2019t avoid some good-sounding things only because some other genre uses those things. They\u2019re pretty simple, and that\u2019s actually the power behind Battle Beast.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Battle Beast (l-r): Eero Sipil\u00e4, Janne Bj\u00f6rkroth, Anton Kabanen, Pyry Vikki,
Nitte Valo and Juuso Soinio<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Classic metal influences aren\u2019t the group\u2019s sole musical influences, however. \u201cActually, those bands that I just mentioned \u2013 Judas Priest, Manowar, W.A.S.P., and Black Sabbath \u2013 they\u2019re my personal favourite bands, but each member has their own favourites,\u201d the vocalist reminds. \u201cOf course \u2013 like I said \u2013 there\u2019s only good and bad music. Any time I hear good music, it influences me. I remember those good things that I hear, and they\u2019re always in the back of my head and stay there. Not just these bands influence me, but they\u2019re my favourites.\u201d<\/p>\n

Modern influences inform Battle Beast\u2019s sound as well, somewhat. \u201cIf I watch a modern movie and I hear a cool soundtrack or something like that, then in that way there are modern influences,\u201d Anton speculates. \u201cI try not to think of what is modern or what is old though. To me music is always timeless, and I don\u2019t care where it comes from. I know the origins of this kind of metal and we can\u2019t deny that we\u2019re influenced by old bands, but there are also modern elements in our music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of Steel<\/em>\u2019s lyrics concern an immortal warrior and his adventures in a world ruled by machines. \u201cThe beast on the CD cover is the main protagonist,\u201d the axeman discloses. \u201cHe\u2019s in this world dominated by machines, and in that world he\u2019s seeking a mysterious woman. He\u2019s really obsessed with that woman because she knows some answers to his questions, and while he\u2019s looking for her in that world he\u2019s also fighting those machines and protecting a few survivors on that planet \u2013 the survivors are a part of armageddon\u2019s clan. \u2018Enter The Metal World\u2019 tells the story of how that beast got to that world, and then the song \u2018Armageddon Clan\u2019 is a song about those few survivors on that planet. It\u2019s really influenced pretty much by all kinds of science fiction and cyberpunk movies; I\u2019m a big fan of The Terminator<\/em> movie (1984), and I like the book Neuromancer<\/em> (1984) by William Gibson. So yeah, that\u2019s about it. That\u2019s the main story on the album.\u201d<\/p>\n

Title cut \u2018Steel\u2019 relates to this central tale. \u201cMany people think that Battle Beast is just about \u2018Metal this,\u2019 \u2018Metal that,\u2019 \u2018Steel this\u2019 and so forth, but actually when that song mentions the words \u2018Metal\u2019 and \u2018Steel\u2019 it\u2019s all related to artificial intelligence that are taking over,\u201d Anton insists. \u201cThat\u2019s why in that verse you can see that the machines wanna dominate completely, and that\u2019s why they check around the world. They wanna have full power, and destroy every living thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all of Steel<\/em>\u2019s compositions are connected to this main story, though. \u201cThere are two tracks that are related to Berserk<\/em> by the artist Kentaro Miura,\u201d the singer divulges. \u201cI\u2019m a big fan of his work, and those songs are \u2018Victory\u2019 and \u2018The Band Of The Hawk\u2019. Then there\u2019s \u2018Savage And Saint\u2019, \u2018Justice And Metal\u2019, and \u2018Iron Hand\u2019, which are all individual songs unrelated to either of those stories. The first verse in \u2018Justice And Metal\u2019 is about Joey DeMaio of Manowar to be honest, and in the second verse we mention \u2018Metal gods\u2019 and by that we\u2019re referring to Judas Priest. In general the song is just about heavy metal. That\u2019s actually the only song where we sing about heavy metal music, but with all those other songs they\u2019re not about heavy metal music but the machines and that kind of stuff. That\u2019s the only song, which is kind of a heavy metal party song. \u2018Savage And Saint\u2019 is about my personal thoughts, and my own life experiences. \u2018Iron Hand\u2019 is actually kind of related to my own story about those machines though, and Berserk<\/em> as well. It\u2019s a mixture of stories in \u2018Iron Hand\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plans for a sophomore album are underway, a 2013 issue roughly pencilled in. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing some pre-production for some time, and we\u2019re about to record drums in March I think,\u201d Anton announces. \u201cWe\u2019ll try to record the whole album in the summer, if possible. The songs are already written. We\u2019re only waiting for the opportunity to record those songs, and the next album will be produced by me or by the band together. We want it to be less stressful. Like I told you before, we would have stayed a bit longer in the studio, and for the second album we wanna have more of this relaxed feeling. We wanna feel that there\u2019s no hurry, that we can record whenever possible, whenever we want. We can then get the best result out of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steel<\/em> was released in Finland on April 13th, 2011 through Hype Music, and subsequently in the rest of the world on January 27th, 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in January 2012.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BATTLE BEAST – Die-Hard Warriors Anthony Morgan January 2012 Battle Beast (l-r): Eero Sipil\u00e4, Juuso Soinio, Pyry Vikki, Nitte Valo (bottom row), Anton Kabanen and Janne Bj\u00f6rkroth Pic: Thomas Adorff Hailing from Helsinki, Finland, Battle Beast consist of guitarist and vocalist Anton Kabanen, vocalist Nitte Valo, guitarist Juuso Soinio, bassist and backing vocalist Eero Sipil\u00e4, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[228,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-battle-beast","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4104"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13139,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4104\/revisions\/13139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}