Beast in Black's 'Dark Connection' - Album Review

Finland's Beast in Black are slowly, and quite quietly, becoming one of the most popular power metal acts, at least outside of the genre's long-established big-hitters, in the world. Since forming in 2015 the band have been relentlessly busy; touring the world, releasing albums, and starting to forge a distinct sound. While the band's 2017 debut release Berserker could have been Battle Beast's, the band which Beast in Black's main songwriter and guitarist Anton Kabanen acrimoniously left in 2015, fourth album, over the past few years the band's sound has moved away from that of Battle Beast - with Beast in Black creating their own identity along the way. 2019's From Hell with Love (which I reviewed here) saw Kabanen moving away from the upbeat speed metal-influenced sound that had made Berserker such a powerful listen and adopting a more synth-heavy sound. Both Battle Beast and Berserker had included plenty of synths, but For Hell with Love saw them become a much more dominant feature. The album had a much more overtly-1980s sound than anything that Kabanen had done before, but the hallmarks of his previous songwriting efforts were still present. For Hell with Love still contained plenty of typical power metal riffs and solos, but the overt use of synths gave the album lots of groove - with plenty of the songs having a danceable feel. I doubt that Kabanen will ever truly abandon power metal, but it was clear on From Hell with Love that he wanted to move way from playing the pure power metal with which he made his name. Funnily enough Battle Beast's sound has also gone in a more 1980s-inspired direction since Kabanen left too, but Beast in Black's synths are much more club-like - with more than a hint of old fashioned disco at times. This is a sound which Kabanen has been exploring further of late, and last month's Dark Connection, Beast in Black's third album, relies even more on synths than From Hell with Love. Dark Connection still has plenty of classic power metal tropes throughout, but it is clear that this is the sort of music that Kabanen now wants to make. While there are lots of power metal bands that make liberal use of synths, few bands fuse 1980s pop and power metal quite as successfully as Beast in Black. Of the bands that I regularly listen to, only Amaranthe have fused pop and metal to a similar level of success as Beast in Black - although Amaranthe's influences are much more modern than those that Kabanen channels. As with From Hell with Love, Dark Connection is still packed full of big metal riffs and soaring choruses, but the pop hooks are even more prominent this time - and as such the album is extremely catchy and filled with memorable anthems.

If any song on the album sums up Kabanen's current influences, the the opening cut Blade Runner is it. 1980s sci-fi themes are littered throughout the album, and the synths that the songs are based around could have come from films like Blade Runner or the original adaption of Frank Herbert's Dune. These synths open up the album, but it is not long before the crunching riffs of Kabanen and fellow guitarist Kasperi Heikkinen kick in. The song is very typical of the sound that was forged on From Hell with Love. Crunching riffs provide the main rhythms and grooves of the song, while the synths provide the main melodic hooks. The synth leads are huge, and the vocal talents of frontman Yannis Papadopoulos are as impressive as ever. He has one of the most extensive vocal ranges in modern metal, but throughout Blade Runner he tends to stick to his raspier delivery. Beast in Black sometimes channel a little Accept in their songwriting, and Papadopoulos' vocals throughout the song are very much in that wheelhouse - particularly during the crunching chorus. It is a song that opens the album on a high, and it very much sets the tone for what is to come. Despite the reliance on synths throughout the album, the guitars are not purely relegated to rhythmic playing. Bella Donna is a much more guitar-heavy piece, and the song opens with a catchy mid-paced riff that repeats throughout much of the song. There is still plenty of synthy depth, but the keyboard runs are largely relegated to the background. This allows the song to up the heaviness, and the track is one of the crunchiest here - with Atte Palokangas' drums really punching through the mix. The chorus is more sugary, however, but this is largely thanks to layers of vocal harmonies rather than any overt synths. The Def Leppard school of backing vocals has certainly been utilised here, but it helps the song's chorus to sound huge - which Papadopoulos owns in his usual enigmatic style. Highway to Mars is another mid-paced cruncher, which both manages to be heavier than Bella Donna (at least sometimes) as well as hugely disco influenced. The opening riff is packed full of groove, and this later informs a chorus which is one of the album's best moments for me. There is some of the band's Accept influence on display throughout the chorus, with Kabanen channelling his inner Wolf Hoffmann for the main riff, but this is perfectly fused with dancing synths and some great high-pitched singing from Papadopoulos. To me, a song like Highway to Mars perfectly mixes power metal with 1980s-style synths - and is a perfect representation of Beast in Black's sound as a result. Kabanen's fast-paced, but extremely melodic, guitar solo really pulls everything together - and the song is an album highlight as a result.

Hardcore tones down the heaviness of the previous two songs, and instead goes for a more industrial-influenced sound that still really punches through the speakers. There is a real Marilyn Manson-esque stomp to be found throughout the song's main verses and instrumental sections - with the bass playing of Máté Molnár pushed to the fore. Molnár really propels the song with his powerful playing, but again the synths provide the main melodic hooks. Given the industrial vibes throughout, it is unsurprising that the synths are so prominent - and they mix well with the overall stomping groove of the track to create something that sounds a little different for the band. One Night in Tokyo is easily the album's most disco-influenced moment, so it is unsurprisingly one of the catchiest pieces here. The song's metal elements are almost superfluous at times, with the guitars and bass largely just providing a rhythmic bed for an array of dancing synths and heavily-gated drums. This song could easily be played in a club full of people who have very little interest in metal, and I do not think that there would be too many complaints because the grooves are so infectious and the synths would be very much at home in that environment. Even Heikkinen's guitar solo has been crafted so as to fit in with the synths, and the song is easily the most overtly disco-inspired song that Kabanen has written yet. Moonlight Rendezvous contains a similar level of synth dominance, but the overall song is much more metal - and the synth sounds used are generally much more soundtrack-esque. The song was the album's lead single, and the video (which can be viewed below) is very influenced by 1980s sci-fi films. In some ways, along with Blade Runner, the song is the best representation of the album's core sound - and Kabanen's desire to perfectly fuse metal and 1980s pop. Papadopoulos makes use of the feminine side of his voice during the song's verses, which are much more atmospheric and keyboard-led, before reverting to his grittier delivery for the hooky chorus - which is another of the album's standout pop metal moments. A great dual solo from Heikkinen and Kabanen brings everything together, and the song is another future classic in the band's canon. Revengeance Machine opens with low key synths and some spoken word that seems to spoof 1980s sci-fi films, before it explodes into a full-on speed metal anthem that recalls the band's earliest work. There are few furious fast-past moments on the album, but Revengeance Machine really goes for it throughout - with Palokangas' double bass drumming driving everything while the guitars add to the fray with their old-school crunchy tone and razor sharp riffing. Berserker was filled with songs like this, but on Dark Connection Revengeance Machine somewhat stands out. The song is a lot of fun however, and it is great to see that Kabanen still want to write songs like this - despite his love of all things pop.

Dark New World opens in a similarly guitar-driven fashion to Revengeance Machine, but the song dials back on the speed and instead goes for that crunchy, Accept-esque sound once again. The riffs are very simple, but full of power, and they allow the more atmospheric moments that see Papadopoulos singing alone against a backdrop of keyboards to stand out thanks to their dream-like quality. The song is largely a fairly typical mid-paced rocker with synths, however - and it is not one of the most interesting examples of it for me. The band have done this sort of thing much better previously (and elsewhere on the album in fact), and for me the track is one of the album's least interesting cuts despite the strong ingredients. It still has a decent chorus and I think it goes to show how good many of the band's other songs are if this one feels somewhat weak. To the Last Drop of Blood opens with a Van Halen-esque riff that all power metal bands must use at some point (see Nightwish's Ghost River and Sabaton's No Bullets Fly), and its choppy rhythm comes to define the rest of the song. It is one of the most guitar-heavy songs here, and the riffing throughout is tight - but for me the song's best moment is the chorus. Kabanen has written lots of great choruses over the years, and this is another excellent one. He just has a real knack for coming up with great vocal melodies - and even though the ones here are pretty simple they really manage to bring the song to life. Some of they keyboard tones used throughout are deliciously 1980s too, which is always fun to hear. Broken Survivors tones things down somewhat, and goes for more of a pop sound. At first it sounds like the song is going to be a ballad, but it is still quite upbeat and it is clear that the band just went for more of an AOR/melodic rock sound instead. I like the toned-down sound that the band pull off here, and many of the classic Beast in Black tropes are still present - they are just presented in more of an AOR context. The chorus is extremely hooky, and Heikkinen's guitar solo has a real stadium rock vibe throughout thanks to his fluid lead runs. The album comes to a close with My Dystopia, which again opens slowly with some distant piano notes and atmospheric keyboards. While not wholly a ballad, My Dystopia is easily the closest thing here to one. The ballad-esque sounds of the early parts of Broken Survivors are well and truly aped here, and My Dystopia's verses are very low key, with rolling piano melodies and some subtle bass runs creating a strong backing for Papadopoulos' feminine voice. The choruses are heavier, as are the song's later instrumental sections, but on the whole the song's impression is one of relative calm - even if calm and Beast in Black do not really go together. It is nice to hear the band operating with relative restraint, however, and the song ends the album on a high - with melodies and atmospheric synths aplenty. While the album might end on a slightly different note, Dark Connection is generally a very high energy release that is packed full of memorable pop metal anthems and shredding solos. It is very typical of what the band have been doing recently, but the songwriting is tight and it feels that Kabanen's wish to fuse metal and pop has been perfectly realised here.

The album was released on 29th October 2021 via Nuclear Blast Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Moonlight Rendezvous.