Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

Hailing from the southern edge of Finland, BATTLE BEAST represents the traditional Heavy Metal sound. Delivering crunching riffs, high screams, blistering solos and powerful choruses – in one word: Power. I’ve had a chance to chat with Anton Kabanen, band’s guitarist, and this what he told me the other day…

Hi Anton, welcome to Metal Shock Finland!

 Hi, thank you!

Only couple of days ago you played at Sonisphere in Helsinki, how was it?

 It was exciting. We enjoyd it, the audience enjoyd it, and we got to play longer than we usually do so our setlist had a few surprises as well. It was also a challenge for a relatively new band, with only one album released, to play at so big event for 75 minutes. But our aim was to deliver Heavy Metal from beginning to end and we did it.

Battle Beast was formed in 2008, and it became quickly  well-known in the metal scenes. What is your secret weapon for this quick success?

 Battle Beast is a straightforward Heavy Metal band. What makes this band stand out is the thing that the songs are simple, catchy and strong and on top of that there is the unique voice of Nitte which fits Battle Beast’s sound perfectly. And we’ve been lucky enough to get plenty of radio play and promotion. All these things have been an advantage in making us known.

What bands have influenced you the most?

 Judas Priest, Manowar, W.A.S.P., Accept, U.D.O., Black Sabbath (The Tony Martin era).

Talking about your sound, what makes it different from the other heavy metal bands?

 Less is more. Especially when it comes to songwriting. The riffs and the melodies are simple and memorable. Then we don’t tune down our guitars like so many nowadays do. And of course the vocals are pretty much different compared to other metal bands. I mean, how many female singers are there who can pull it off like Nitte…

Please present me the band members and your best qualities…

 There’s our lead singer Nitte Valo who’s the best singer I know and the guitarist Juuso Soinio who is a very humorous and a funny guy. Our drummer Pyry Vikki is a Down to Earth-type of a guy who knows how to beat the living Hell out of his drums. Our bassist and a backing vocalist Eero Sipilä is a guy who really is a walking menace. But I mean that in a good way. The keyboardist and a backing vocalist Janne Björkroth is an easy-going guy and a virtuoso producing all kinds of music. Then there’s me, Anton Kabanen, I play the guitar and do lead and backing vocals.

Your debute album “Steel” came out last april… tell me about the songs on it, about the themes and ideas where you took them from…

 I’ve been creating a story about an immortal lion-like warrior and his adventures in a world ruled by machines. Most of the album songs are based on that story. I am a cyberpunk fan myself so I am inspired by such movies as ”The Terminator”, ”Virus”, ”The Lawnmower Man” and ”Alien” and creatures like ”Battle Angel” and ”Cyber City Oedo 808”.

The opening track ”Enter the Metal World” begins to tell the story of the lion-like warrior who used to be a man from Earth. Back on Earth this man gained immortality and he was obsessed with a woman who actually was a bait from another dimension, a fake person, kind of a hologram. Well, he was needed in that other dimension for a reason and this fake person did manage to get him into a space between dimensions from where he eventually got out and entered a whole new world, The Metal World. While entering The Metal World he was transformed into a Beast and thus the living nightmare had begun. In this world machines exterminate living creatures and make experiments with them and the Beast is fighting the machines, of course. The song ”Steel” is from the perspective of machines and computers of that world. ”Armageddon Clan”, ”Die-Hard Warrior”, ”Cyberspace” and ”Iron Hand” are as well related to this story. ”Show Me How to Die” tells about the Beast’s desperate need to get out of that dreadful planet. If he dies he will be reborn into a new body and a new world. So the song is not suicidal. It’s about a new beginning because the Beast is immortal.

”Savage And Saint” and ”Justice And Metal” are not related to this story.

Oh yeah, and I’m also a huge fan of a Japanese dark fantasy manga and creature called ”Berserk”. The songs ”The Band of the Hawk” and ”Victory” are based purely on that story. The story sets around an invincible group of mercenaries called ”The Band of the Hawk”, nicknamed ”The Grim Reaper of the Battlefield”, that is led by their charismatic leader Griffith and commander Guts.

However, I used the artistic freedom to change ”The Grim Reaper of the Battlefield” into ”The Death of the Battlefield”.

The first two singles from this album “Show Me How To Die” and “Enter The Metal World” caused a lot of good feedback among critics and fans. How the album sales are going?

 Actually I don’t have a clue about the official numbers except that the album was six weeks on the Finnish album chart. I just hope it’s still selling good although it’s not on the chart at this moment.

Now, let’s talk about your female vocalist  Nitte whose vocals have drawn comparisons to Rob Halford… how important is her role for your band’s success?

 She is the voice of the Beast. It’s important for a band to have a singer whose voice people will recognize when they hear it because the singer gives the band its face. Nitte’s voice is recognizable, unique and top quality. As a frontwoman she’s also the right girl for the job because she looks right, sounds right and acts right. So yeah, she plays a very big role in this band but Battle Beast is a group of individuals who are all in this together. Everyone has his own important role.

Anton, you’re the band’s songwriter (and guitarist as well)… while writing, do you do it alone, or together with the other members?

 I write the songs alone. It’s actually how this band got started. I’ve been writing songs for many years now and I wanted to form a band to put those songs in practice. So usually when we start rehearsing a new song I just show and tell everyone what they should play or sing. That way the process is effective and soon the new song is learned. Sometimes the guys and Nitte come up with their own ideas and suggestions that we may also use in the songs.

You’ve played already widely on many international stages… which act, so far, has been the most significant one, and why?

 That’s a tough one but I’m gonna go with W:O:A 2010 because it was a great kickstart to our career. After our successful performance in Wacken we were contacted by numerous labels and people of the metal scene. And one thing led to another and the next thing we knew we were to play at Finnish Metal Expo which in turn led to other great things as well.

This summer you’ll play in many festivals, what are the next ones?

 Unaja Open Air, W:O:A 2011, and Porispere. At Unaja Open Air we get to play just before W.A.S.P. and I’ve gotta say I’m really eager to meet Blackie Lawless there if possible.

What will you do after this summer-festival season? a tour…?

 Yeah, we’re hoping to do a tour after the summer, at least in Finland, but time will tell. Anyhow, we always manage to keep ourselves busy with the band, for instance, by rehearsing and recording new songs.

And what about the next plans? are you going to write another album?

 Basically the songs are already written and we’re already doing some pre-production for the next album. If there’s no tour after the summer then we’re definetely going to completely concentrate on making a new album. I already can tell you that it’s gonna be a real killer and a ball crusher!

Anton, now the word is yours… what are your greetings to our readers and to your fans?

Thank you for reading this interview and a big thanks to Battle Beast fans who come to our shows and listen to our music! And if you haven’t bought “Steel” yet, go get it. It’s full of screaming Heavy Metal! Take care everyone!

Interview by Tarja Virmakari – For more information, please visit: http://www.hypeproductions.fi/battlebeast/index.php?id=1

BATTLE BEAST – Enter The Metal World