• Join the metal resistance! - A review of Babymetal's ''Metal Resistance''

    Babymetal - Metal Resistance (2016)

    Many people expected Babymetal to be a short-lived hype, a gimmicky one-album wonder, an overrated and vapid product of contemporary social media activities. All these naysayers are definitely proven wrong. The band is still alive and kicking and hasn’t split up or changed line-up as many other idol groups. Babymetal has toured the biggest and most renowned festivals around the world and has a more massive media presence these days than ever before. Three dynamic female Japanese teenagers and their solid backing band continue to revolutionize an entire genre and the music business in general by breaking down stylistic boundaries in an open-minded, juvenile and energizing way. Babymetal has even pioneered an entirely new genre called kawaii metal that saw bands such as Band-Maid, Deathrabbits, Fruitpochette, Ladybaby, Tokyo Rockets and others rise to fame in their homecountry over the past few years. In general, the band has had an emancipatory impact on the awareness of female rock groups in its country. Despite the concurrence, Babymetal is still the undisputed leader of this movement and so far the only band with a significant international market. The band’s second full length output ‘’Metal Resistance’’ underlines the band’s massive stautus as role model for its genre. Even though fans of the band’s first release will definitely find all the band’s charismatic  and classic trademarks on this output, this second album isn’t a safe copy of the first breakthrough record but pushes the exciting evolution of kawaii metal even further. It’s an intriguing coming-of-age album. While the eclectic, energizing and entertaining predecessor had a carefree, chaotic and juvenile spirit with many hit and miss experiments that were all over the place, this second strike shows a perfectly balanced mixture between this youthful attitude and a more homogeneous, mature and skilled artistic approach.

    ‘’Metal Resistance’’ focuses even more on metal music than the first output. Most tracks are clearly influenced by melodic power metal and a few visual kei elements but occasional extreme metal sounds add even more power at the right spots. Several songs still include a few influences from other genres covering electronic, folk, pop, reggae and even swing music but these elements are much better dosed than on the predecessor as they always add something essential to each song and never sound all over the place for the sake of experimenting. The musicianship has become more complex and technical and yet remains catchy and focused enough to make each of the twelve new songs a potential chartbreaker. The guitar riffs are more gripping than before, the emotional solos sound unchained and the diversified rhythm section is the vivid backbone of this powerful genre. Main singer and dancer Nakamoto Suzuka sounds even more versatile, mature and elegant than two years earlier and is a very welcome, skilled and powerful change compared to the high number of exchangeable operatic female singers in the metal scene. Backing vocalists Mizuno Yui and Kikuchi Moa have evolved quite a bit and offer more than occasional screams, gang shouts and dance performances this time. They still sound juvenile but even more powerful as they have leading performes on this record’s darkest, fastest and heaviest tunes. Their brutally grounded energy complements the main singer’s elegantly uplifting skills. The band as a whole and the twelve compositions sound more efficient, focused and homgeneous than two years earlier.

    Let’s take a closer look at this record’s most outstanding songs in chronological order. A track that represents the evolution of the band very well is the new single ‘’Karate’’. The verses are rather dark and feature gripping modern metal riffs. Backing vocalists Mizuno Yui and Kikuchi Moa still sound juvenile but not as childish as on many tracks from the first record. Their performance actually adds a slightly mysterious and experiemental tone to the track that fits with the floating bridge. The chorus is uplifting, powerful and catchy and main singer Nakamoto Suzuka hits every note in a perfect way. The balance between metal and pop elements sounds perfectly balanced. The transitions between the harsh verses and the soft choruses sound quite coherent. Babymetal have perfected their very own style from the first album and the new songs sound much more mature and serious without using their carefree lightness.  

    My favourite track on the record is the epic ‘’Meta Taro’’ that features a harmonious chorus reminding of a national anthem with an uplifting Olympic spirit. The only metal song that reaches a similar level of epicness is Stratovarius’ often overlooked ‘’Wings of Tomorrow’’. As if that wasn’t enough, this song also features vivid European folk elements in a refreshing way and easily beats everything bands of that genre such as Elvenking or Eluveitie have accomplished on their last records. Occasional male growls add some fitting yet contrasting grounded dynamics to an otherwise ceremonial masterpiece.

    ‘’From Dusk Till Dawn’’ is an electronically driven new age song that reminds me of Enigma and Robert Miles. It builds up an enchanting and mystic atmosphere that fits well in between the heavier tracks of the album. This transitional song adds a whole new dimension to the band sound and is only included on album editions made out of Japan.

    The improvement of backing vocalists Mizuno Yui and Kikuchi Moa can be heard on ‘’GJ!’’ and ‘’Sis. Anger’’ where main vocalist Nakamoto Suzuka takes a break. The two younger singers sound energizing in the verses and prove that they have worked on their technical vocal skills in the more melodic choruses. These two songs are darker, faster and heavier than most of the other tracks on the album and invite both to dance and mosh along to them without losing their addicting catchiness. Especially ‘’Sis. Anger’’ is quite a surprise with its blastbeats, death metal riffs and sinister atmosphere. Musically, this track could be one of the best Morbid Angel tracks of the last two decades.

    ‘’No Rain, No Rainbow’’ is an emotional visual kei ballad where Nakamoto Suzuka proves what a competent singer she is. This kind of song should be a welcome alternative for those who are still waiting for X Japan’s first album in two decades that has been delayed for more or less convincing reasons for nearly five years in a row. While these legends have become an overrated copy of their former selves and fail to do their jobs accurately, Babymetal already deliver at their young age and represent a vivid future without forgetting about Japan’s traditional metal sounds.

    ‘’Tales of the Destinies’’ is one of the most experimental songs in the career of the band. It’s a sinister and progressive tune with incredibly skilled guitar solos, a pumping bass guitar, a furious percussion performance and vivid keyboard patterns. This unpredictable song is more exciting and experimental than the entire last Dream Theater record. Even the vocal performances vary constantly and adapt perfectly to the eclectic musicianship. Despite all this frenzy, the track still comes around with a beautiful chorus that holds everything together. This courageous masterpiece is easily my second favourite song on the record.

    The final ‘’The One’’ perfectly closes the circle to the opening ‘’Road of Resistance’’ as both songs are rooted in European power metal. While the opener features DragonForce’s charismatic guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, the more progressive album closer is a beautiful, introspective yet powerful anthem about the band and its supporters. This is the only track which is performed in English on the international versions which is a great sign of respect from the band towards its more and more numerous fans. The Japanese release features an alternative version with Japanese lyrics. While most Japanese adults struggle with pronounciation when it comes to foreign languages that are extremely different from their mother tongue, the three girls deliver a great job since they both sing and articulate very well the open-minded message they want to spread.

     

    I could write so much more about this perfectly produced album which is an improvement over the already outstanding predecessor but I would simply encourage any fan of contemporary rock and metal music to give this band a fair chance without any prejudice and listen to their twelve new compositions right away. This is a first serious candidate for the album of the year. The only negative elements I can find about this record are the uninspired cover artwork and the disappointing booklet of the international version of this release. Join the metal revolution and buy this record!

    Final rating: 9.5/10

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