Battle Beast  (FIN)

When U.D.O. was passing through Knislinge in 2013 for a gig in the park, they brought along a, for us, fairly unknown Finnish metal band. It was called Battle Beast and in the following years they would grow and become really big. Six years later, i.e. in 2019, Battle Beast stood on our festival stage for the first time. Another six years will now pass before their return visit. Battle Beast is going back to Knislinge, bigger than ever. In 2013, the band had almost the original lineup since its formation in 2008. Guitarists Anton Kabanen and Juuso Soinio as well as drummer Pyry Vikki were school friends and founders of the band. The rest of the band was and still is made up of keyboardist Janne Björkroth, bassist Eero Sipilä and then brand new singer Noora Louhimo. According to what was said, Anton Kabanen found Noora by "mistake" when he was surfing around on Youtube. A successful mistake, you might say. However, the group would lose another member in Kabanen already in 2015. He went on to form Beast in Black, which is also a decently successful band on the rise. The new guitarist in Battle Beast was Joona Björkroth. Of their six albums, the latest titled "Circus of Doom" (2022), the last four have ended up in first place on the list at home in Finland. They haven't reached quite that high in Sweden yet, but we can guarantee that it will be full of people during their gig anyway. Too damn popular, they are.