Band:	Teräsbetoni
Album:	Maailma Tarvitsee Sankareita
Style:	Hard rock, Power metal
Release date:	November 2010

01. Myrsky Nousee
02. Metalliolut
03. Maailma Tarvitsee Sankareita
04. Jumalten Usva
05. Mies
06. Tunnemme Sinut
07. Uudestisyntynyt
08. Thanatos
09. Konstantinopoli
10. Eteenpäin
11. Gloria

To cut to the chase for the impatient - this is the best Teräsbetoni album and you should listen to it even if you haven't gotten into them so far. Whenever I grow tired of artists that cry bloody tears or bands so prog that Petrucci will stop bodybuilding for a second in order to applaud them, I go to this album. I'm not saying it blows all newer traditional metal releases of later years out of the water, but it certainly is on par with a lot of them.

A little bit of history is in order now? After two successful releases in the same Manowar-esque but very fun vein, Teräsbetoni tried a various number of experiments on their third album, including, but not limited to: competing in Eurovision; stringed instruments; and evil sounding riffs and epics. Myrskyntuoja was an okay album in its own category, but it seemed to me that Teräsbetoni is meandering through risky waters and that the next album won't be of their usual standard. And it wasn't, but in a good way.

They still play mostly riff and chorus-based epic heavy metal, not heavy on technique, but the Manowar influence is fading away, and the band has also picked up the pace where necessary. When I gave Maailma Tarvitsee Sankareita a first listen, I was in bed, struck with a bad flu, but "Jumalten Usva" launched me into a one-girl-moshpit and by the time it reached "Mies" I was headbanging so hard it rocked my fever away. There are two great ballads which continue the band's tradition in writing awesome slow songs (though my favorite is still "Teräksen Taakka" from the previous album), and also a couple of songs with a notable evil sound to them.

There's more guitar leads, though they're still simple, and Arto (guitar) proves his vocal talents once again by sharing a duet with Jarkko Ahola on the closer. In a way, it's a shame that he is paired with such a mighty vocal counterpart, for he should sing more, but the voice of Jarkko Ahola outshines him and taking precious seconds away from Jarkko's singing time is a waste. You may think it's silly of me to write about his voice in every other review, but it's been three years that I can't get over how awesome a singer he is.

The band's cheerful attitude towards music leaves a strong mark on this album as well, but you'll get it faster if you watch the video for "Metalliolut". Sure, the video for their 2008 Eurovision entry was hilarious as well, but this one put a big smile on my face from the first second - you can see that this is a group of people who live their childhood dream by making the music they do. That's what got me into Teräsbetoni in the first place.