OK look, if you’d told me before I came out to this gig tonight that one of the songs would be dedicated to fish, then the chances are I wouldn’t have believed you. But that said, no one told Finland’s Brymir.
They sent out “Herald of Aegir” to salmon and waved an inflatable one around. Still, while that may make them seem like some weird version of Gloryhammer with scales, Brymir are actually a much more serious proposition than that.
Heavy, too. Considerably more so than the rest of the bill, perhaps their best moment “Ride On, Spirit” celebrates the life of singer Viktor Gullichsen’s friend, Julian. And it seems that this band, approaching its 20th anniversary, has songs that truly come from within. To that end, “Wings Of Fire” focuses on Gullichsen’s first crush.
Another first is their first visit to Birmingham, and it seems that for Brymir it was a pilgrimage to the home of metal that was important for many reasons.
Serenity are another band making their second city debut, and the Austrians were in sparkling form throughout.
From “The Fall Of Man” onwards it’s clear that Serenity are a more melodic affair than the openers, and “Souls And Sins” is very European fists-in-the-air fun.
They offer up a party on “Set The World On Fire,” but it hasn’t been all partying for the band as singer Georg has been absent, meaning guitarist Marco has been filling in. Now he’s back, shredding for all he’s worth with the frontman front and center.
The fact that they do things just a little bit differently is underlined again by the superb “Legacy Of The Tudors” – there aren’t many songs about Henry the Eighth, after all. They save the best for last, though, and “Lionheart” is proper parping power metal with a solo that’s straight from the Dragonforce playbook.
Serenity are another band who might never have been here, but already belong.
Battle Beast opens up with “Circus Of Doom” – and they do so with an exultant scream of “Let’s Go!” – and it feels very much like they’ve been unleashed here.
If they are a traveling circus, then the Ringmistress, as it were, is Noora Louhimo – an astonishing focal point. She ensures that songs like “Familiar Hell” pack the requisite punch, and by the end of “Armageddon,” it becomes clear as day that when it comes to power metal, no one is better than this.
“Metal” is the operative word, and they’ve got a stand-in guitarist supplying the riffs here, as their usual lead man is on paternity leave. No matter, “Place We Call Home” hits hard – and especially so since Heavy Metal was invented just a couple of miles up the road.
Everything about them is polished. This is an arena-caliber band, even if they’re not playing in arenas. “No More Hollywood Endings” proves that, and if Elton John’s “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” – sung by beer-chugging bassist Eero Sipilä – is a bit of a turn, then the venue is turned into a sea of lights nonetheless.
Keyboard – and Keytar which is always fun – player Janne Björkroth mixes drinks as usual for the audience, and the fact that this is a “holy quest” for them is never better shown than on “Bastard Son Of Odin”.
It does need to be said, too, that the band have such a command of the audience. The chants in “Russian Roulette” come from somewhere deep, and there’s a real sense that dreams do come true as they play “Eden”.
This being a band that understands theatrics as well as any, there’s a lengthy encore, but “King For A Day” and in particular “Beyond The Burning Skies” belong as the showstoppers they are.
Every time you watch Battle Beast there’s no doubting you’ve been to a show – and given that this venue was an upgrade on where it was supposed to be and is nearly full, it’s a show people want to see.
Battle Beast, then, always up for the fight, and whatever the number is, it’s the code that makes them the best at what they do.
