Sit back and hold tight, your concept of catchy metal tunes may be about to change.
It wasn’t until a colleague of mine in-store brought this bizarre concoction of a band to my attention and ever since he drilled their very addictive song Give me Chocolate into my head I was hooked. For those of you who are thinking that I’ve made up some kind of weird hybrid band name then you would be forgiven for your mistake, as this is something of a perfect blend. Babymetal – three teenage girls blissfully belting out Japanese song lyrics over the top of a heavy metal band, bristling with cool guitar riffs and catchy tunes.
A pre-warning to anyone who gets a song in their head and can’t get it out, as most of their songs do exactly that. Whilst I don’t have a total grasp of the Japanese language (it’s pretty limited to be honest), you still find yourself humming along with each and every song. So, it was a joy to hear that the latest album Metal Resistance has continued with that ideal. The best way to define the songs I’ve heard is an amalgamation of every Anime cartoon series introduction with a heavy beatdown somewhere within it.
The long awaited album is here from the feisty trio
Dropping straight into one of the more prominent tracks on the album, the intro Karate is a mellow almost bell-like ring followed by a muted guitar riff. Almost predictably this drops straight into a riff that wouldn’t be out of place on a Killswitch Engage or Korn track and instantly gets your head bouncing along with it. Throw in the typical triple-attack of muted power chords and floaty vocals and you’ve got one catchy little tune. The synthesisers used on this track only add to the thing getting drilled into your mind and I’ve been humming the main guitar line for what feels like 2 days already….
By contrast, No Rain No Rainbow almost felt like I had walked into a song by Guns N’ Roses with a smooth piano groove and a very synthesised vocal by the lead singer (Suzuka Nakamoto) and fits the ballad very well. Not much metal here, so probably the song you could tease your folks with before dropping the rest of the album on them. Nonetheless, I was extremely impressed by the complexity of the bass runs in this song and the guitar solo was well thought out and very expressive.
GJ is a proper throwback to when Nu-Metal was at its peak in the early 2000’s with a powerful drop, tuned guitar blasts and interesting synth sounds to provide a sullen backdrop for what is essentially a very squeaky vocal song. I expect both drummers and guitar players alike to be sitting down and trying to learn the riffs, fills and necessary head banging to follow along with another extremely addictive track.
So, for those of you looking for the perfect blend of hardcore metal music, beat downs, catchy tunes and Japanese teenage singers then perhaps BabyMetal will become your new favourite band. They are a revelation to the genre and have definitely grabbed my eardrums and shouted right down them ‘We are going to be around for a long while’.
Author – Andrew, Eton Store
