1999: Eminem - Guilty Conscience

1998: The Offspring - Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)

1997: The Prodigy - Breathe

1996: Orphanage - At the Mountains of Madness

1995: Oasis - Wonderwall

1994: Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

1993: Anthrax - Black Lodge

1992: Guns N' Roses - November Rain

1991: Voivod - Clouds in My House

1990: Pet Shop Boys - Being Boring

1989: Madonna - Like a Prayer

1988: Metallica - One

1987: The Hooters - Satellite

1986: Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer

1985: A-ha - Take on Me

1984: Golden Earring - When the Lady Smiles

1983: Culture Club - Karma Chameleon

1982: Michael Jackson - Thriller

1981: Adam & The Ants - Stand and Deliver

1980: Jona Lewie - Stop the Cavalry

 Dear readers of my blog!

Many metal fans laughed when Babymetal gained international recognition for its quirky mixture of heavy and extreme metal riffs, pop melodies and Japanese idol culture about five years ago. A lot of people expected the band to split up sooner than later as it is often the case in idol groups where band members eventually get replaced when they get too old or want to move on in their careers. Several people said Babymetal was just a short-living phenomenon. Others claimed that such a band would never be accepted in the metal community. 

More than five years later, it turns out that all the naysayers were wrong. Babymetal is still around, has released two very successful studio records and is playing in front of massive sold-out crowds in Europe and North America. Famous metal musicians and singers, such as Rob Halford and Herman Li, have even collaborated with the band while others defend the band's style and describe it as innovative, powerful and refreshing. The band members haven't been replaced but rather inspired other bands to follow their lead and this genre movement isn't about to slow down or even stop.

This has led to the creation of the so-called kawaii metal genre. It means cute metal in English and it perfectly summarizes everything its stage presence, lyrics and music are about.

The bands of this genre often involve one or several female singers in their teenage years or young adult years who are backed up by professional metal musicians. The bands often have visually stunning concepts for costumes, music videos and stage decorations. Some bands dress like pupils or maids, others present Japan's quirky culture or the upsides and downsides of being an idol in their video clips and a few bands use stage decorations recalling fantasy stories or a workout room. The bands use amusing catch phrases, perform complex dance choreographies, use the most sophistiacted light and sound techniques, are quite active on social media networks and have clever marketing strategies to sell a multitude of products.

If compared to regular metal bands, the lyrics of kawaii metal bands often deal with topics younger audiences care about: being afraid of eating too much chocolate and gaining too much weight, dreaming of becoming famous, rich and successful or having a first romantic relationship are some examples. Some lyrics can however also deal with more serious topics: dealing with bullying at school, facing exhausting mental and phsyical challenges in a very demanding society or showing the downsides of always being in the spotlight are among the best examples. Lyrics from these bands often express what teenagers feel but can sometimes also apply to young adults. Even if you are younger or older than the target audience, the lyrics are an interesting way to understand the lives of Generation Z.

The music is just as diversified as the constantly evolving lives of Generation Z in times of information overload. Death metal vocals in the energetic verses meet saccharine pop vocals in the catchy choruses. Metalcore breakdowns are followed by dubstep elements. A dreamy piano ballad evolves into vivid power metal song with numerous guitar solos. These changes occuring within a single song are what makes kawaii metal diversified, dynamic and surprising. Fans will praise this original mixture of genres while more conservative mind might claim the music is all over the place. No matter what your opinion is, kawaii metal is everything but boring and this is exactly what I like about it.

Where do the restrictions of such a diversified genre end? It's quite simple: as soon as one of the three key elements being stage presence, lyrics and music isn't respected, it isn't kawaii metal anymore. Aldious and Mary's Blood might have distinguished stage presences but their music is straight heavy and power metal and the lyrics aren't overtly related to the world of Generation Z. Asriel and Sound Horizon mix electronic pop elements and symphonic metal and have complex costumes and sophistiacted stage decorations but the lyrical topics are limited to simple fairy tales as it's the case for many regular symphonic power metal bands. Versailles and X Japan are visual kei bands which means that they also have creative concepts, costumes and decorations as well as a mixture of heavy and mellow sounds but their emotional fantasy lyrics aren't related to Generation Z issues plus most members of these bands are older males.

As you can read, kawaii metal is indeed a very distinguished genre and should be accepted as a metal subgenre, Japanese pop subgenre and idol scene subgenre. In oder to exemplify what kawaii metal stands for, here are my twelve favorite kawaii metal songs. I tried to pick twelve different groups with quite diferent styles that show the extents and limits of the genre.

Babymetal - Gimme Chocolate!! 

Deathrabbits - Season of Love

Ladybaby - Nippon Manju 

Deadlift Lolita - Pump Up Japan 

Fruitpochette - CleverDick 

Band-Maid - Thrill 

Doll$Boxx - Take My Chance

Shiori Tomita feat. Ladybeard - Valentine Kiss 

Light Bringer - Upstream Children 

PassCode - Asterisk 

BiS - Hi

Momoiro Clover Z feat. Kiss - Blooming in the Ukiyo 

In Extremos Sänger Michael Robert Rhein singt auf dem dritten Album der kroatischen Folkband Manntra mit, welche In Extremo auch schon hin und wieder auf Tour begleitet hat. Das Titelstuck des dritten Studioalbums der Kroaten ist ein richtig schones Stuck geworden, das Fans von In Extremo auch gefallen durfte. Viel Spass damit!

Did you ever wonder what the numerous Chinese folk metal bands like Nine Treasures and Tengger Cavalry sounded like if they were a little bit heavier but without shifting into extreme metal territory? Dream Spirit give you the answer to this question on the concise, entertaining and powerful General Triumphant record.

On one side, the band combines classic melodic heavy metal melodies with a few slightly more fast and sinister riffs, an energizing rhythm section and variable vocals between melodic clean vocals, a few restrained screams and a few select gang shouts here and there. Most songs have some folk melodies that are either supported by conceptual lyrical themes, some genuine folk instrument sounds or occasional epic keyboard layers. The band manages to find its own niche by focusing more on the metal elements and using the folk influences in appropriate, concise and original doses. This makes for a dynamic sound and the rather amateurish production only helps to distinguish the band from the elevated number of pretentious folk metal bands these days that overload their records with layers of folk and symphonic instruments.

A great example for the band's sound is ''Of Daggers and Men''. The melodic vocals and fast twin guitar leads follow traditional heavy metal and European power metal standards while atmospheric keyboard passages and grounded flute sounds give the group its very own folk style. Before the catchy chorus shifts the song into too saccharine territory, the band comes around with a few more sinister riffs in the verses and a few extreme metal vocals in the background. Each stylistic element is employed carefully and cleverly and one discovers more details with every spin. Especially the shorter songs on the record sound very coherent as they have quite similar stylistic elements. 

The playful symphonic keyboard sounds plus the traditional Chinese string instrument used in ''Ancient Poems'' make for a dreamy atmosphere that is brought down to earth with vivid drum passages and gripping hard rock riffs. The melodic lead vocals lead us passionately through this fantastic combination. This is my favorite song on the record but the fast album closer ''Song of Triumph'' that does its title justice and convinces with uplifting melodies and enthusiastic gang shouts comes very close as well.

The longer tracks are however much harder to digest and show the band's experimental side. These ambitious tracks are at times lacking cohesion. This is particularly the case for ''Morbid Souls''. The track focuses on a depressive and gloomy atmosphere with low and noisy guitar sounds and a few mellower keyboard melodies which is a strategy that is often employed by Chinese post-rock and black metal bands. Only the melodic vocals remind us that we are still listening to Dream Spirit and not to Esthète Sinistre. These soundscapes drag on for far too long and lose momentum as the first notable change only occurs five and a half minutes into the track. The more melodic and vivid finale supported by uplifting flute sounds feels rushed in less than two minutes and the chaotic backing vocals somewhere between spoken-word passages and throaty shouts don't really blend in. This song includes enough ideas for three tracks but the final version is simply going nowhere. If the band managed to keep its more ambitious tracks simpler, they would unfold much better.

On a side note, the album didn't need three instrumental tracks out of only nine songs in total either. While the tracks underline the instrumentalists' talents and provide a suitable atmosphere to the conceptual record, the band could have just stuck with the dynamic but slightly overlong ''Might as the Sea'' and should have skipped the other two shorter interludes.

Dream Spirit might not attain the level of epic storytelling and gripping emotions of bands such as Tang Dynasty or The Last Successor yet but the group is already a refreshing alternative to Nine Treasures and Tengger Cavalry and could one day become one of China's most distinctive metal bands. The creativity, passion and talent are already present on General Triumphant even though the songwriting isn't perfect yet.

Final rating: 77%