Not only did we get the chance to see an amazing show AND talk to Sabaton, but we also had the chance to sit down to talk with Battle Beast guitarist Joona Björkroth for a bit and get his thoughts on the tour, the recording process and future plans. Battle Beast is another killer band that many may not know about, but totally should, and we hope to change that for our readers!
Bringer of Pain is a great album. Really like the energy and the guitar work. Nice mix of melodic and aggressive tracks. “God of War” is a great song, and “Bastard Son of Odin” is one of my favorites, reminiscent of an old Viking drinking song.
Yeah. (laughing)
Seems like you guys have had some pretty significant lineup changes over the years. Who does most of the writing at this point? Is it a collaborative effort, or is there one person driving it?
As for now, everybody is basically writing, but then for this album it turned out that Janne (Björkroth, Keyboards), my brother, wrote seven songs, and I wrote four which are on the album, and then Juuso (Soinio, guitarist) wrote one, and Eero (Sipila, Bass) wrote one, but we had more songs than these 13. We had like 19-20 songs, and I had very many, eight I think, and we voted on which songs, as a group, would make it onto the album, and then we produced to the end. So we had a lot of demos, and everybody would write (and we want to keep it that way) and if someone writes something really good, we would take it. So no dictators, nothing like that.
You guys are based in Helsinki, which of course is home to a lot of really great bands like Amorphis, Amoral, and even goth bands like Him. You’ve been in a couple bands before Battle Beast. What’s the music scene like there? Is it really competitive? Hard to break out and get noticed?
Well, in my case, no… I’ve been moderately successful in every band I’ve been in, but of course non as big as Battle Beast. I think the Helsinki music scene is very cool. There’s a few bars you can go to, and you WILL meet people from bands that are Helsinki based. It’s a big family, in my opinion. I have no beefs with anyone. Of course people talk shit about everyone, that’s the usual thing, but not in the metal scene. People talk, and people meet, but when you meet someone from one of the other bands, it’s just cool.
Sounds pretty chill. Awesome. This is your first U.S. tour, and it’s almost over. How’s it been? You guys having a good time?
Oh yes! This is by far the best tour I’ve ever been on. Every city, the crowds are absolutely insane. Very, very great energy. Everything is great. All the guys and girls are great. It’s almost too easy. It felt more like a holiday.
Oh yeah?
(laughing) Yeah, for me, compared to the European tour we did, it was very, very easy, and very easy-going and relaxed.
Finland has a really rich culture, with lots of lore and mythology to draw upon, which really shows in your music. Where do you guys draw a lot of your inspiration?
As for Battle Beast, I just start by writing the songs and then when I add the text, I have an idea of something, which might be mythology based, but not necessarily. I want to write kick ass songs, and if I get that inspiration from a guy on a motorcycle and he’s the Bastard Son of Odin, or I get the inspiration from a comic, or my own experiences, it doesn’t matter. I try to come up with a good lyric, that fits the song. We’re not this theme band. There are many “theme bands” that have very strong themes. We make songs, and we want to try to make at least ten good songs per album.
You guys added Noora (Louhimo, vocals) three albums ago, and she has an amazing voice. It’s not uncommon for a new lead singer to want to take the band in a different direction, so how has it been working with her? Has she had a lot of creative input, as far as lyrics?
Oh yes. We collaborated for three songs. On Bringer of Pain, I just wrote the riffs… like I wrote this kick ass heavy metal fast song, and she wrote the melody and the lyrics. So that’s one example of our collaboration, and then many things happened in the studio too. She’s like, “Can we try this? Can we try that?” and it’s easy when you have a great singer like that who can also write music that you could not write with an average singer. I can actually do very hard shit for the vocalist, and she pulls it off. That’s the first time for me. All other bands I’ve been in, the singer would struggle, and then it doesn’t sound too good… if it’s clean singing, of course. Growling is completely different.
Yeah it definitely doesn’t seem like there are any egos in the band, it’s a pretty collaborative environment. That’s great. Any plans for after this tour?
I would like to mention, this tour has been an enormous success for us. Far bigger success than we ever would have thought. Of course it’s part that Sabaton’s crowd likes us, it’s similar music, heavy metal. But it’s been so successful that we’re planning another tour for next year!
Well, you heard it here first, folks! Another Battle Beast tour next year! You mentioned you had a lot more songs than you could put on this album… are you guys already working on the next one?
Oh yes, all the time, and many of the songs that didn’t make it on to this one, I’m going to try to finish and see if they make it onto the next one. They go into the pool of 20 songs, and we try to pick the best ones, but never say never. I don’t know. That album’s writing starts in the summer, and should be finished in about a year, so we’ve got a year of work ahead of us, and shitloads of shows so we’ll see how it’s going to go.
Awesome! It’s been great talking to you, thanks for your time.
