#battlebeast — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #battlebeast, aggregated by home.social.
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9. #BattleBeast - Steelbound, 2025.
"Angel Of Midnight" -
8. #BattleBeast - Unholy Savior, 2015.
"Madness" -
7. #BattleBeast - Battle Beast, 2013.
"Out of Control" -
Bloodbound – Field of Swords Review
By Baguette of Bodom
Bloodbound has always been a band with a confusing identity. These Swedes lit up a storm with debut Nosferatu in 2006, an underappreciated heavy/power gem fusing the best of Iron Maiden’s gallops with the hooks of Helloween and HammerFall. The golden pipes of Urban Breed (ex-Tad Morose) were the cherry on top. However, the curse of unstable lineups would strike. Urban Breed would leave for one album, rejoin for the odd-but-good, progpower-meets-Kalmah melodeath sound of Tabula Rasa, and promptly leave again. A decade of struggles followed, ranging from watered-down HammerFall to withered Sabaton to simply tepid heavy metal. 2021’s Creatures of the Dark Realm was a surprising resurgence, drifting Bloodbound more towards saccharine Europower. This brings us to newcomer Field of Swords. Where does it fit into this unconventional discography?
Field of Swords doubles down on Bloodbound’s recent melodic adventures. The double bass drumming of ’90s power metal is immediately recognizable, following in the steps of Stratovarius and HammerFall. The guitar work, too, has rejuvenated. Gone are almost all of the Sabatonisms that marred some of the band’s lowest points; here, the Olsson brothers’ rhythmic assault is simple but effective (“As Empires Fall,” “Born to Be King”), and its attitude carries the medieval fantasy spirit of [Luca Turilli(‘s) / Lione] Rhapsody [of Fire] minus the wank. The vocals of Patrik J. Selleby fit this style like a glove, his adapted performance being one of the strongest of his tenure thus far.
Bloodbound’s newfound breakneck pace and consistency are their greatest assets. The decision to go borderline sparkly on Field of Swords could have backfired, marking yet another sudden left turn in a discography full of them. Instead, it feels like a natural development from the past three albums. While the album on the surface is written like standard ’90s–’00s melodic power metal (“Field of Swords”), the execution of classic power chord choruses leading into blazing solos (“The Code of Warriors,” “Forged in Iron”) is surprisingly fiery and fun. Most importantly, Field of Swords forgoes balladry and prioritizes speed for a lion’s share of its 45-minute runtime. The record has a unified image unusual of Bloodbound. It’s not infallible—the unnecessary Sabaton sing-along stomp rears its head on the second half of “Pain and Glory”—but it is tightly-knit in a way I greatly appreciate.
As catchy as Field of Swords is, there are a few things preventing it from being a resounding success. For one, Bloodbound rely too much on one-note Battle Beastian disco synths. While Fredrik Bergh contributes plenty of pleasant backing bombast to the album as well, his main weapon of choice is sharp and high up in the mix, leading to fatigue on some otherwise strong choruses (“Defenders of Jerusalem,” “Light the Sky”). The band is still not immune to odd songwriting shifts either. In addition to the aforementioned “Pain and Glory” stumble, closing track “The Nine Crusades” features Unleash the Archers’ talented Brittney Slayes, only for her voice to drown under sappiness unfit for the record. Even so, the concoction here is potent. Cuts like “Land of the Brave” and “Light the Sky” are some of Bloodbound’s fastest and most energetic to date, and this sudden burst of frenzy is admirable of a veteran band.
For the first time in a while, Bloodbound’s sound has a true sense of direction. Field of Swords’ all-gas, no-brakes approach gives the record more urgency than they’ve had in forever, and both the songwriting and album flow greatly benefit in return. Despite some lingering issues, Field of Swords ends up being one of the better albums in the band’s catalog. Both Creatures of the Dark Realm and this album indicate the Europower-forward realignment continues to work in their favor. I can’t say I don’t still long for the days of Nosferatu, and Bloodbound could place a bit more faith in their strong guitar work and vocal lines, but whatever they’re doing is paying off once more. I can only hope this progress continues.
Rating: Good!
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream o’ Piss
Label: Napalm Records | Bandcamp
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: November 21st, 2025#lucaTurillisLioneRhapsodyOfFire #2025 #30 #battleBeast #bloodbound #fieldOfSwords #hammerfall #helloween #ironMaiden #kalmah #napalmRecords #nov25 #powerMetal #review #reviews #sabaton #stratovarius #swedishMetal #tadMorose #unleashTheArchers
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Elettra Storm – Evertale Review
By ClarkKent
Italy has a well-established power metal scene, particularly the ostentatious Rhapsody of Fire and the dazzling Frozen Crown. Looking to make a foothold in this scene is Elettra Storm with the release of their sophomore album, Evertale. While it may look like a strange word for those not fluent in Italian, Elettra comes from the Greek mythological figure, Electra/Elektra. It also serves as a root word for electricity, which helps explain both the odd-sounding band name and the storm surrounding the head of the woman on the cover. This quintet isn’t looking to reinvent the cheese wheel; they just want to write some catchy songs and give their lead singer, Crystal Emiliani, a chance to show off her pipes. Do they have that spark to set the power metal world on fire?
While people like to tease that Wilderun is Disney metal, if Disney were to actually sign a metal artist, they would likely sound like Elettra Storm. They straddle the line between power metal and hard rock mixed with some pop. They don’t quite bring the dance vibes like Battle Beast, but their power metal also isn’t as aggressive or hard-hitting as Frozen Crown. Guitar riffs and drum beats are relatively muted, though not without a lively energy, as Elettra Storm largely plays it safe instrumentally. Instead, they rely on the strength of their frontwoman, and Emiliani delivers. She channels a mix of Disney-friendly pop artists from Idina Menzel to Celine Dion. On “Blue Phoenix,” I half-expected Emiliani to break out into “Let it go” when she buoyantly sings the refrain “And rise again,” while “Secrets of the Universe” has a moment where her voice briefly brought me back to that titanic hit from decades ago.
For power metal of this caliber to work, the choruses need to be catchy, but on this score, Evertale is a mixed bag. It’s not that the choruses are a miss, but that they’re often forgettable. It doesn’t help that the lyrics tend to be convoluted. On “Hero Among Heroes,” Emiliani sings “Hero among heroes / Rise the sword up in the sky / Strong of arm and mind”—this ESL tendency hampers catchiness. Evertale also suffers a general lack of hooks. For the most part, riffs are bland, standard rock fare, and melodies are nil. Opener “Endgame” has some hooky synths, but Elettra Storm rarely returns to them on the rest of the record. “Master of Fairytales” also shows potential when it opens with energetic blast beats and a decent chorus, but the song drops that energy the rest of the way. “Blue Phoenix,” on the other hand, is proof they have the capability of writing really good power metal. It has Evertale’s most creative riffs, a consistent level of energy, and a chorus that soars in a dazzling display like the mythological bird. In the end, Elettra Storm could learn a lot from studying stalwarts of catchy power metal like Unleash the Archers.
Elettra Storm actually feels most at home on the lone track that’s geared more towards pop than metal: “One Last Ray of Light.” This tune eschews the usual power metal trappings of noodly riffs and high energy. It features a piano and what sounds like a mandolin playing a lovely melody.1 Then the chorus hits and the real magic happens. Emiliani’s voice rises to a beautiful lilt as she belts out the catchiest chorus on Evertale. The song is a certifiable banger, and it is also where Elettra Storm sounds most comfortable. Between this and “Blue Phoenix,” Elettra Storm have it in them to write some great power metal—if only they could apply these successes to the rest of Evertale.
The end result is an album that is pleasantly bland, with tracks ranging from forgettable to slightly above average, as well as a couple that are quite good. I won’t deny that I sometimes find myself whistling a random tune like “Judgment Time” while I’m out and about. Evertale hits that sweet spot between power metal and adult pop/rock where it could find an audience in either genre. Elettra Storm provides an electric vocalist, a little bit of guitar noodling, and radio rock song structures that make it a pleasant in-the-moment listen. But the record fails to take many risks or hit many of the highs the genre is capable of. Instead, it plays things a little too safe and doesn’t quite live up to its elettra-fying name.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: October 24th, 2025#25 #2025 #BattleBeast #CelineDion #ElettraStorm #Evertale #FrozenCrown #HardRock #IdinaMenzel #ItalianMetal #Oct25 #PowerMetal #Review #Reviews #RhapsodyOfFire #ScarletRecords #UnleashTheArchers #Wilderun