Joe Lynn Turner – Belly of the Beast

Joe Lynn Turner – Belly of the Beast: Inside the beast’s belly

Genre: Heavy Metal
Country: United States
Label: Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group
Year: 2022

If anyone had predicted in the years of “Street of Dreams” that four decades later Joe Lynn Turner would record a dark, heavy, industrial-tinged metal record in the company of Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy and Pain, they would probably be treated with some suspicion. And yet, Belly of the Beast not only exists, but is one of the most unexpected and interesting turns of his huge career.

It was released on October 28, 2022 and includes eleven compositions. Tägtgren is not limited to mere production: his presence permeates the entire album, from the guitars and the planned, mechanical rhythms to the dark electronic textures strongly reminiscent of Pain.

First, Joe has a completely new look here, determined to get rid of the wigs he has been wearing for five decades, battling alopecia since he was 3. He reminds us a bit of Doug Bradley (the “pinhead” of Hellraiser) and Eric Clayton of Saviour Machine in his photos. Influenced by biblical prophecy, esotericism and occult research, Turner uses the album’s title to express his belief that humanity is trapped in a spiritual war between Good and Evil, controlled by a corrupt world system. The lyrics are not cryptic, but direct (“knockout punch” as he has said in an interview) and reflect the dark reality of recent years.

The self-titled “Belly of the Beast” immediately burns bridges with anyone who was expecting another album of melodic hard rock. Heavy riffing, almost industrial pulse and a Turner visibly harsher and more aggressive than usual. The track could easily be on Painkiller or Firepower as well. He doesn’t try to sing like Rainbow in the 1980s; he uses his current, deeper voice and turns it into an asset.

“Black Sun” goes even further towards the dark side, with almost Rammstein-like mechanicality and choral elements. “Tortured Soul” continues in the same vein, while “Rise Up” has perhaps the most direct chorus of the album: here Turner’s melodic nature manages to pass through Tägtgren’s industrial volume without fading away.

After all, that’s where the interest of Belly of the Beast lies. We don’t listen to an AOR singer pretending to be metal. We hear a man with decades of hard rock experience transferring his natural sense of melody to a much heavier environment.

“Dark Night of the Soul”, a dark power ballad with cinematic orchestrations, acts as a necessary breath while “Tears of Blood” comes closer to classic heavy metal and gives Turner space to deliver one of the best and most distinctive performances of the record.

“Desire”, “Don’t Fear the Dark” and “Fallen World” maintain a standard, but all of them lack compositional weight. And here lies the main objection: the sonic structure is often more impressive than the songs themselves. Tägtgren’s production is huge, but the constant use of dense guitars, industrial rhythms and dark atmosphere can create a slight uniformity in the album’s second half. There is a feeling that the Pain-like sound overshadows Turner’s personality sometimes.

“Living the Dream” brings the tension back, while “Requiem” closes the album with a heavy, imposing mid-tempo and Hammond creating a small link to JLT’s classic hard rock past.

Belly of the Beast is not to recommend to someone who wants a second Bent Out of Shape. In his seventies, Turner did not choose the safe recycling of a sound he knows better than most. He preferred to enter foreign territory and take the risk.

If we had to condense its sound into an “equation”, I would say: Pain + Rammstein + Samael + Primal Fear, with the vocal melodies of Rainbow/Jorn.

Not everything works perfectly. But I think that, in the end, the risk was worth it.

Joe Lynn Turner is coming to Greece on September 26th & 27th! The legendary voice that was much adored through his collaborations with Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force and Deep Purple, will present the hits of his great career, as well as classic rock favorites.

JLT’s impressive musical career spans five decades. He founded Fandango in 1977 and sang on four albums. At the invitation of Ritchie Blackmore, he joined Rainbow. His vocals propelled the seminal album Difficult to Cure which went gold in the UK in 1981. A year later, he excelled in Straight Between the Eyes and is behind the top singles: “I Surrender”, “Can’t Let You Go”, “Death Alley Driver”, “Stone Cold”, “Street of Dreams” etc. In 1988 he released the album Odyssey together with the famous virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen for the Rising Force project. Then, he collaborated again with Blackmore on the album Slaves and Masters by Deep Purple. At the same time, he has released 11 personal albums, while he has collaborated on the recordings of many artists (Cher, Billy Joel, Riot, Bonnie Tyler, etc.).

Save the Dates: September 26, 2026 in Larissa @ Circus Entertainment Hub | September 27, 2026 in Athens @ Gagarin 205.

Don’t miss it!

Tickets are on sale from www.more.com, Public stores and the rest of the More network.