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I suppose it was a matter of time before some crazy power metal band pushed all their chips to the center of the table and went all-in on a combo of power metal and dance music. Both are generally played fast, have loads of melody and don't shy from keyboards so the similarities are there. Enter Beast in Black with their second album, From Hell with Love. The Beasts gave the "power/dance" thing a try on their debut Berzerker with the track "Crazy, Mad, Insane" and for a one-off, it was fine. On From Hell With Love, they've upped the ante. A lot. Sure, there are several solid power metal songs like "Cry Out for a Hero" and "Repentless" but if you heard the New Kids on the Block harmonies on advance single "Sweet True Lies" and wondered where this was going, it's dance music. "Die by the Blade" sounds like it should be a Slayer cover but the keyboards are a lot like Peter Schilling's "Major Tom", "Unlimited Sin" has a chorus and keyboard melody that while beefed up, sounds like Pet Shop Boys and "True Believer's" synthesizer riffs and electronic drums would have been right at home backing up Laura Branigan, she of "Gloria" fame. Tracks like "This is War" and "Heart of Steel" bring the band back to more traditional, Helloween power metal territory but are still quite sugary.

On the one hand, give Beast in Black credit for trying to push the envelope. The performances are excellent and the sound is crisp. On the other, I didn't expect the album to be THIS "dancey". As someone that grew up listening to music before there were personal players with skip buttons and self-programmed playlists, I had to sit through this kind of stuff over and over again, between radio and MTV, and I've had enough to last a lifetime. If you dig it, more power to you but Beast in Black is going too far. It almost feels like they are trying to catch or create a trend, one with the potential to be played in discos and dance clubs and make the band some serious money. If that is the case, and it works, more power to them. I'm going to pass because this doesn't sound much like metal to me.