BATTLE BEAST's NOORA LOUHIMO On Her Stage Costumes: 'It All Begins With My Imagination'

Allie Jorgensen of LA Metal Media recently conducted an interview with frontwoman Noora Louhimo of Finnish metallers BATTLE BEAST. You can listen to the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On why BATTLE BEAST chose "No More Hollywood Endings" as the title of its new studio album:

Noora: "We decided to use the first single song title for this album. Well, we thought there was a nice ring [to] it, 'No More Hollywood Endings'. Yeah, that's the reason. There are a lot of different meanings. The song, the actual song 'No More Hollywood Endings' is about accepting yourself, who you are, and not trying to get into any of these modes that people create or social pressure that people put on people to be in a certain way. It's a song about accepting yourself."

On whether BATTLE BEAST was nervous about following-up 2017's "Bringer Of Pain":

Noora: "Of course. We are always nervous. It's always a new process and it's very rewarding, but it's very painful because you put so much of your heart and soul in the music. It's always very personal in different ways."

On the musical direction of "No More Hollywood Endings":

Noora: "That is something that is our goal as always: We want to be theatrical in a certain way, but we want to do power metal anyway. This album was to show people a little bit more different sides what we can bring out in music-wise, and, also, visually. We are already planning on the next album so I'm really excited about that."

On the new song "Unbroken":

Noora: "It's about being bullied and also it's a message for all the bullies that maybe you should think twice before you bully anyone because it affects everyone if you are being bullied. For example, I have personal experience of being bullied when I was a kid. It still affects my self-esteem and how I think about myself. It's very important to talk about these things and music is a really great way to give people power and also send a message to people. It doesn't matter what the issue is, but I think some things are difficult to talk about, so it's much easier to talk about those painful things through music."

On her vocal influences:

Noora: "There are a lot of them, but I can tell you that my first idol ever was Whitney Houston when I was a kid. When I heard the song from the movie, 'The Bodyguard', 'I Will Always Love You', sung by Whitney Houston, that just blew my mind. I was, like, 'I want to sing the way that Whitney does.' Later on, there has been in heavy metal, of course, Ronnie James Dio [BLACK SABBATH, DIO, RAINBOW], Rob Halford [JUDAS PRIEST], Bruce Dickinson [IRON MAIDEN]. Most of them are men who are my idols and influences, but my biggest idol ever is definitely Janis Joplin. The reason is that I've always been listening to and loving different kinds of music genres. I've always wanted to be able to sing in different ways and different sounds. Of course, I take influences from different idols. I feel like I'm kind of a combination of these different influences for what comes out of me as an instrument."

On where she gets the ideas for her elaborate stage outfits:

Noora: "It all begins from my own imagination. [Laughs] But then I have also these different visual influences coming from… For example, one of my idols is [Queen] Elizabeth I [of England]. I really love these very theatrical styles. Then I have two dressmakers who have been collaborating with me during these last years and they have done a really great job."

"No More Hollywood Endings" was released in March via Nuclear Blast.