Out Now
Cooking Vinyl Australia
Words by Jimmy Glinster
BABYMETAL is a band that I’ve always had problems with taking completely seriously. I mean, yeah, it was kind of cute seeing a couple of chicks up on stage singing along to some heavy metal, but it never really grabbed me. I could say something like, it’s all just a gimmick, but having been a fan of bands like Slipknot and Mudvayne who wear masks and face paint as some kind of gimmick I guess I’d paint myself as some kind of hypocrite.
Anyway, all that aside, let’s have a go. Metal Kingdom is first up and the track is heavy as. I can’t understand a word the girls are singing because I don’t speak Japanese, but I guess that will be my battle for this entire. Musically it’s a great track, and the gospel styles over the track add a tasty added dimension.
Divine Attack – Shingeki quickly thrashes its way into my soul with some heavy ass riffs. It’s quite an interesting concept with the super clean female vocals over the devastatingly heavy music, and the contrast is mesmerising, but I just wish I spoke Japanese so that I could attempt to sing along or something.
Oh, Mirror Mirror has some English lyrics and for a moment I know what they are talking about. A moment that doesn’t last very long. Again, the music is heavy as fuck and on point.
Maya, Ooft. What a fucking riff! And some more English lyrics, most of them this time around. This is a banger of a track, maybe just because I can understand them, or maybe because the riffs are heavy as fuck and grooving the fuck out of me right now. Ok, now they are speaking Japanese, and I am lost again. That riff has still got me though!
Not sure what’s happened here, but I seem to be caught in a pop song as Time Wave kicks off. Some distorted guitars and heavy drums do jump in, but they are overshadowed by Synth. And just like that I opt out of this track.
As Believing kicks in I very quickly pull my that’s brutal face. As the lyrics kick in the song somehow reminds me of that All The Things She Said song by those Russian chicks in t.A.T.u., especially the line in the chorus that sounds just like it. The riffs are strong in this one.
Here we go, another synth adventure. Metalizm, they call it and honestly, it’s a bit too much for me. It does contain some serious guitar noodling though.
Chugga Chugga Chugga Chugga Dah, that’s more like it, until Monochrome gets all traditional metal and then slows down to some kind of Enya sounding pop song. What a unique adventure the first 30 seconds of this song is. I’d like to say it doesn’t get any weirder, but it kind of does. Either I’m starting to understand Japanese a little or there are song English lyrics in this one again. Probably not though, I’m probably just confused.
Light and Darkness commences with singular kick hits and standalone vocals. Slowly but surely some programmed drumbeats and synth feed into the mix and are eventually joined by heavy guitars, bass and drums. It’s all a little bit techno for me this one.
Last up is The Legend which starts with some keys, followed by programmed drums, synth and crispy clean Japanese vocals. It’s a bit of a slow burner which also happened to include a saxophone solo. Token Techno ballad?
I’m sure I’d enjoy this album more if I knew what they were singing about which is one of the reasons that I never jumped on the Rammstein or The Hu hype trains. There is only so far I can get into a song without being able to sing along to the lyrics.
I mean, musically this album is brilliant, and the riffs are some of the heaviest I’ve heard in a long time, but does anyone even know who the band are? Do they have names or faces, or are they just randomly hired guns? And they are guns, because their riffs will blow you away once they pull the trigger. I might even strap on my bulletproof vest and go and watch them at the Fortitude Music Hall when they drop by this June!
*All reviews in HEAVY are just one person’s opinion of the album. We encourage honesty in reviews but just because our reviewer may or may not like/appreciate an album, that doesn’t mean their opinion is right! We encourage you to have a listen for yourself and make up your own minds!
