๐
Release Date: TBA
๐ฟ Album: Fear The Beast
๐ท๏ธ Studio Album: Fourth Full-Length
Get those leather jackets polished, fire up the synthesisers and prepare for another enormous dose of gloriously over-the-top heavy metal because Beast In Black are back with new music.
The Finnish power-metal wrecking crew have unleashed โFear The Beast,โ the title track from their upcoming fourth studio album of the same name.
And really, could a Beast In Black record have a more Beast In Black title?
Fear The Beast.
Itโs got swords-and-sorcery energy written all over it.
Following the bandโs previous full-length Dark Connection, the forthcoming record will mark another major chapter for a group that has spent the last decade turning the combination of traditional heavy metal, power metal, huge melodies and unapologetically massive synths into its own wonderfully excessive beast.
The creature is stirring again.
And this time, theyโre telling us to fear it. ๐บ๐ฅ
๐บ โFear The Beastโ Has Arrived
Rather than keeping the albumโs title track hidden away until release day, Beast In Black have decided to put โFear The Beastโ front and centre.
The new song gives fans another taste of the bandโs next era while also placing a considerable amount of responsibility on its shoulders.
After all, when you name the entire bloody album after a song, youโd better make sure that song can carry the weight.
For Beast In Black, that means returning to the combination that has made them such a distinctive force within modern European metal.
Huge vocals.
Bigger choruses.
Heavy-metal riffing.
Electronic flourishes.
And absolutely no interest whatsoever in being subtle.
Exactly how we like it.
โก Album Number Four
Fear The Beast will become Beast In Blackโs fourth studio album.
Thatโs a significant milestone for a band whose rise has been remarkably rapid.
Formed by guitarist and songwriter Anton Kabanen following his departure from Battle Beast, Beast In Black arrived with something to prove.
Their debut album, Berserker, landed in 2017 and immediately established the bandโs identity.
Traditional metal riffs rubbed shoulders with power-metal bombast.
Synthesised melodies collided with screaming guitars.
And then there was Yannis Papadopoulos.
Good grief, that voice.
๐ค Yannis Papadopoulos โ A Voice Built For Arenas
One of Beast In Blackโs greatest weapons has always been Papadopoulosโ frankly ridiculous vocal range.
He can deliver soaring melodic lines before suddenly launching into piercing heavy-metal screams that sound capable of removing wallpaper at fifty paces.
That versatility has become fundamental to Beast In Black.
The bandโs music can move from muscular traditional metal into something bordering on full-blown โ80s synth-pop without sounding like two completely unrelated groups have accidentally been booked into the same rehearsal room.
Papadopoulos provides the bridge.
And when one of those enormous Beast In Black choruses kicks in?
Good luck resisting it.
๐ฅ From Berserker To Fear The Beast
Beast In Blackโs story so far has been built across three increasingly confident records.
Berserker introduced the formula in 2017.
From Hell With Love followed in 2019 and pushed the bandโs melodic instincts even further.
Then came Dark Connection in 2021, an album drenched in cyberpunk atmosphere, synthesised hooks and the sort of neon-soaked โ80s influence that sounded like Judas Priest had somehow been teleported into an arcade at midnight.
Now comes chapter four.
Fear The Beast.
After the gap following Dark Connection, anticipation surrounding a new full-length is understandably high.
And sharing the title track is a pretty emphatic way of announcing that the next era has properly begun.
๐ธ Meet Beast In Black
The Beast In Black line-up has become a formidable heavy-metal machine:
- Yannis Papadopoulos โ Vocals
- Anton Kabanen โ Guitar / Vocals
- Kasperi Heikkinen โ Guitar
- Mรกtรฉ Molnรกr โ Bass
- Atte Palokangas โ Drums
At the centre sits Kabanenโs songwriting, with the guitarist continuing to develop a musical world where classic heavy metal can comfortably share space with pop hooks, electronics and gigantic cinematic melodies.
Purists may occasionally clutch their battle jackets in horror at the amount of synthesiser involved.
Everyone else is too busy singing the chorus.
๐ค Heavy Metal With Absolutely No Shame
Part of Beast In Blackโs appeal is their complete refusal to pretend heavy metal needs to be permanently serious.
Yes, thereโs heaviness.
Yes, there are riffs.
Yes, there are screaming vocals and enough leather to furnish a small furniture showroom.
But there are also massive pop melodies, electronic hooks and gloriously excessive arrangements.
Beast In Black understand something important.
Heavy metal can be fun.
It can be theatrical.
It can be catchy as hell.
And you donโt need to apologise for any of it.
That philosophy has helped the band build an audience stretching well beyond traditional power-metal circles.
โ๏ธ The Berserk Connection
Another recurring element within Beast In Blackโs identity has been Kabanenโs fascination with Kentaro Miuraโs Berserk.
That influence has appeared throughout his songwriting career and has helped provide Beast In Black with a darker fantasy edge beneath all those gleaming melodies.
Itโs one of the reasons the bandโs combination works so well.
The surface can be ridiculously catchy.
But underneath it sit darker themes of struggle, obsession, violence and survival.
Sugar-coated heavy metal this ainโt.
Wellโฆ
Maybe sugar-coated with a massive sword hidden inside.
๐ฟ Fear The Beast โ Tracklist
The complete tracklist for Fear The Beast has yet to be confirmed in the information available to The Riff Report.
However, the albumโs title track โFear The Beastโ has now been unveiled as part of the build-up to the fourth Beast In Black full-length.
Further song titles and album details are expected as the campaign continues.
And considering Beast In Blackโs previous records, weโd wager there are going to be some absolutely enormous choruses lurking in there.
๐ค Following Dark Connection
Thereโs another reason Fear The Beast feels particularly significant.
Dark Connection arrived back in 2021.
That means fans have had a substantial wait for the next full-length Beast In Black statement.
Of course, the band havenโt exactly vanished during that period.
Touring and live performances have continued building their reputation, particularly among audiences who discovered just how enormous these songs become when thousands of people start singing them together.
But studio album number four represents the next proper evolution.
Where does Beast In Black go after Dark Connection?
How far will the electronics be pushed?
How heavy will the riffs become?
Will there be another chorus scientifically engineered to live inside your skull for approximately six months?
These are the important questions.
๐ฅ The Beast Awakens Again
Four albums into a career is often where things become particularly interesting.
The debut establishes the band.
The second proves whether it was a fluke.
The third starts defining the identity.
By album four, youโre dealing with a group that knows exactly what it is โ and has to decide whether to refine that formula or start kicking holes through the walls.
With Fear The Beast, Beast In Black have another opportunity to push their wonderfully strange mixture of old-school heavy metal and modern electronic bombast somewhere new.
And the title alone suggests theyโre not planning on making themselves smaller.
๐ธ The Riff Report Saysโฆ
There are bands that spend years desperately trying to convince everybody how serious and sophisticated they are.
And then thereโs Beast In Black.
These magnificent lunatics will throw screaming heavy-metal vocals, enormous guitar riffs, disco-flavoured synths, power-metal choruses and enough โ80s atmosphere to resurrect an entire VHS rental shop into the same song and somehow make the bloody thing work.
Thatโs their superpower.
And itโs exactly why the prospect of Fear The Beast is so much fun.
Beast In Black occupy that wonderful corner of heavy metal where absolutely nothing needs to be restrained.
The chorus can be enormous.
The vocals can reach the stratosphere.
The synthesiser can be turned up until somebody complains.
And the guitars can still come crashing through the middle of everything like an angry rhinoceros wearing studded leather.
After Berserker, From Hell With Love and Dark Connection, album number four has some sizeable boots to fill.
But unleashing the title track is a clear statement that the machine is moving again.
The beast is awake.
The fourth album is coming.
And apparently weโre supposed to fear it.
Nah.
Weโre turning the bloody thing up. ๐ค๐ฅ
๐ฟ Album Details
Artist: Beast In Black
Album: Fear The Beast
Release Date: TBA
Studio Album: Fourth
Genre: Heavy Metal / Power Metal
Confirmed Track: โFear The Beastโ
Previous Album: Dark Connection (2021)
Full Tracklist: TBA
๐ธ The Riff Report โ Supporting rock, metal and the glorious racket in between.
