In a new interview with Australia’s Metal Mal, Eero Sipilä, bassist and founding member of BATTLE BEAST, opened up about the recent departure of longtime frontwoman Noora Louhimo and the band’s decision to move forward with Brazilian vocalist Marina La Torraca.
When the Finnish metal act announced Louhimo’s exit in December, the group stated that she was stepping away “to focus on her solo career.” Just next day, they revealed their excitement about welcoming La Torraca — known for her work with PHANTOM ELITE and the symphonic metal project EXIT EDEN — as their new singer.
Speaking to Metal Mal about the moment he learned of Louhimo’s decision, Sipilä admitted the news caught him completely off guard. “I don’t remember the exact date, but, yeah, she announced that she wanted to leave, and then we really tried to talk her over to do these shows [in Japan, Australia and China] that had been already set [and] arranged [for March 2026]. But, eventually it just didn’t turn out [like that]. And here we are now. That’s life, I guess.”
Reflecting on his initial reaction, he continued: “Well, first reaction was absolute shock, because it totally came out of the blue, completely random to me. But, yeah, after that, slowly over time, I just kind of started thinking that this band has been around before [Noora], so why couldn’t it be afterwards? I’ve been in this band for 17 years. I’m gonna keep going. And that was the common mood. And then we just really started actively searching for new singers. And, yeah, Marina‘s name came on top of our list. We called her. She was interested. We flew her over to Finland. Stuff worked out. And now we have a new singer. That’s how it kind of went down, in a nutshell.”
Meanwhile, Louhimo offered her own perspective on the split in a December interview with Chaoszine, describing her departure as the result of a long and deeply personal process. “Well, for me it has been kind of a long process. Nothing happens in an instant or anything like that. But in my life so many [things] happened, these kind of situations, like health wise — people have heard about my health issues with the artery [ruptured], and a year before that I was in a car accident — and things like this that really make me prioritize what I want in my life. And maybe because of these events also I started to think about what things I wanna do in life and what I want to achieve. And because in BATTLE BEAST, it is very demanding schedules, and it’s always, like, either you are making an album with them or you are preparing an album or you are touring. There is no time for a solo career or whatever you want to do, like extra. And that was something that became too big of an issue for me because I’m an artist and I need to do different things to express myself to feel fulfilled.”
Noora added that her desire for creative freedom played a major role in her decision.
“When I [released my solo LP Eternal Wheel Of Time And Space in 2021], it was like I had already thought about a solo album for a decade. And when the pandemic came, I was, like, ‘Okay, now I can do it.’ But after that, I haven’t been able to do anything, almost, in my solo career for five years, and it’s been really kind of… I need that. It’s, like, when people have been asking, like, ‘Why are you doing so many things and not just focusing on BATTLE BEAST?’ or something that, and all I can say is that it’s my nature to do many different things to express myself, and that keeps me going and that keeps me happy.”
Louhimo also emphasized the importance of delivering the news of her departure with honesty and respect for both her bandmates and the fans.
“When we informed [the fans] about this, everything that we said on the video [announcing my exit] was honest and true,” she said. “13 years I was building the band with the guys, and I have a huge respect towards them as well and also towards our fans. And what I feared the most breaking the news was losing the fans, because I love all of [them]. And it is like when you say out loud that actually I need to do this to be happy and maybe disappoint some people, it was the scariest thing I have ever done, because being rejected is maybe the worst nightmare for me. Just to put myself out there honestly, what I want to be happy, has been maybe the hardest thing I have ever done.”
Noora revealed that she informed the band about her decision after the summer shows, wanting to allow time for planning with the members, the record label, and agents: “I did announce this after the summer, after the summer shows had been done. Because I wanted to have enough time with the guys to think through, what are we gonna do? And also with our record label and our agents and stuff like that. So this has been a long process, but I also definitely didn’t want to say that, ‘Okay, I’m leaving now,’ and then new album was coming out and things like that. But I knew also that there is no right time for this kind of [announcement].”
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