Ever get fed up with people being agreeable? I’m going to show you how to start an argument using one word (or two for the hair-splitting). Wander into any metal circles, a rock club or campus heavy metal society usually work and mention the name Babymetal. Responses will range from ‘they are the greatest thing to happen to metal in decades’ to ‘how dare you mention that name in my presence – they’re a blight on the metal genre’. Nuance and reasonable positions will be somewhere in between the two. Babymetal has an acquired sound that will certainly not be to everyone's tastes. However, they have a unique sound, have proven their longevity beyond Gimmie Chocolate, and have shone a light on Japanese metal acts in the vein of Silhouette From The Skyline, Man With a Mission and Band-Maid. Most importantly, they have succeeded in getting people who otherwise wouldn’t have an easy gateway into metal, interested in the genre. And I’m sorry, while it’s possible to have legitimate gripes with Babymetal or just be turned off by the frankly wacky combination of J-Pop and metal, they are not ‘ruining’ anything. Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth will still be revered and looked up to no matter how successful J-rock gets. And if a genre that’s been popular and growing since the ’60s is threatened by three teenage girls, and some musicians dressed as skeletons, then maybe the elitists should be giving them a bit more credit than they’re getting, I mean, wow! Personally, I think they rule and Metal Galaxy only helps to solidify that.
DA DA DANCE! Immediately starts the album off on an energetic note! Now here’s an album opener – essentially a dance metal song, the blaring synths are replaced with splicing guitars and commanding drums, while the melodies are infectious – a feature lacking from a lot of mainstream metal, and another reason why I find Babymetal so revitalizing. This is far from the last example of that kind of changeability taking place. Shanti Shanti Shanti incorporates Indian Bollywood melodies and instrumentals into the mix while keeping the guitars present – at a stretch, you could trace this to a trend that’s existed in pop since the ’80s, yet few display the effort and execution in order to give them flair and authenticity.
Sabaton’s Joakim Broden lends vocals to Oh! MAJINAI! Which can only be described as a Sea-Shanty style piece with the electric violins and accordion lending a wonderfully authentic touch. Polyphia’s Tim Henson and Scott LePage feature on Brand New Day, their bright, funk-laden guitar textures, contributing to an insatiably joyous anthem. Night Night Burn has a touch of Cuban dancehall, albeit via way of power metal. In The Name Of… has elements of gothic and black metal, incorporating choirs, traditionalist instrumentation, searing guitars, and guttural screams, all of which send chills riveting down my spine. Even PA PA YA!, the lead single and the most Babymetal sounding song here, believe it or not, is given a determined, marching feel by the growls, courtesy of Japanese metal star, F.Hero.
Don’t think that the guests in any way minimize the contributions of Babymetal proper because they take centre stage at all times, and play the main role in making Metal Galaxy so ambitious! Elevator Girl is a jaunty pop-punk number, sung in English, no less. Distortion and Starlight prove why they fill stadiums, with the arena-sized harmonies and soaring instrumentation lending that sense of magnitude, which has been present since album no. 1. Indeed, I would even say that they have touches of prog metal in the way the complex instrumentation blends with the unconventional songwriting. The vocalists still prove their remarkable chemistry on the inspiring Shine and glorious closer Arkadia, where the transcendent melodies and symphonic qualities prove uplifting.
The off the walls, crazy and uncanny approach that Babymetal has cultivated here, proves the recipe to their success. They never would have seen such enthusiasm, if there were no risks involved. Any reservations, misgivings or hesitations have been firmly blown into outer space with this record. Sure, the production is squeaky clean, the vocals an acquired taste, and the musical themes insatiably off the wall. Though, I will give a request to those who heard Doki Doki Morning in 2015 and noped hard out of becoming a fan of the project: Give them one more chance. Listen to this album, without prejudice. Who knows? You might surprise yourself. 8/10
Bent Knee: You Know What They Mean (InsideOut) [Matt Bladen]
Bent Knee are a musical collective from New York City consisting of lead singer and keyboardist Courtney Swain, guitarist Ben Levin, bassist Jessica Kion, drummer Gavin Wallace-Ailsworth, violinist Chris Baum and sound designer Vince Welch (synth/guitar/production). They can be considered prog, I guess but they are a lot more than that, they fuse a myriad of styles on their records from pop, rock, jazz and unapologetic heaviness. This is categorized by the first proper song on this record Bone Rage which is fuzzy and heavy, the ideal opening after the live intro Lansing where the band deal with technical problems before an explosive feedback leads into it, it's one of two live/intro tracks on the record, splitting things pretty much down the middle. You Know What They Mean is the bands fourth record and according to vocalist Courtney (who has one of the most distinctive voices in rock) Bent Knee are "a big group with a lot of different personalities and a lot of voices, but our music brings us together. On the past albums, you could hear the music, but you couldn’t really hear who we are." This search for who they are has led Bent Knee to produce their most visceral album yet lurching between styles with serious musical acumen. Give Us The Gold kicks off with throbbing synth beats paired with the frantic violin it's music that defies borders with every note, it's edge of your seat stuff as you are taken along on this mind-expanding journey through the trance-like Hold Me In, the dramatic modern pop of Catch Light, the introspective, ambient, dramatic Garbage Shark before Golden Hour is an ethereal near-climax. Most definitely an art rock album, strange, intriguing and most of all satisfying to listen to. 8/10
Divided Multitude: Faceless Aggressor (Ram It Down Records) [Matt Bladen]
The orchestral piece Chapter 2 is the instrumental that opens this seventh album from Norwegian progressive/power metal band Divided Multitude, their first sine 2015. It is also the first album not feature co-founding member Sindre Antonsen as lead vocalist, he has been behind the mic and on guitar since 1999 but here the vocal position has been taken by Jan Thore Grefstad who the keen eared may recognise as the frontman of Saint Deamon for their two brilliant albums over ten years ago and also their most recent record released on the same label in September (which we will be reviewing soon now we know about it). He's got a great voice and is backed ably by Antonsen for a delicious dual lead sound on Prosperity Divine.
Now obviously you'll be drawing comparisons because of the shared vocalist but Divided Multitude are a more progressive sounding band with some heaviness from palm muted riffs on Divided Multitude, though the title track goes full power metal madness, it's mainly heavy prog metal sounds like Queensryche (Psalm Of A Soldier), Dream Theater, especially on the epic version of Alanis Morissette's Uninvited and also Symphony X who they are most similar too with those precision guitar lines impressing on Counterparts as False Prophecy ramps up the heaviness. I'd never heard of Divided Multitude (they've made seven albums! You idiot Matt) but I will be doing some discography digging on the back of this record, if you like heavy but melodic progressive metal then seek out Faceless Aggressor as it's a superior prog metal album. 8/10
Juggernaut: Neuroteque (Subsound Records) [Alex Swift]
Limina opens, the distorted, drawn-out guitar passages and resonant drums lending a commanding feel, before slowing into a somber classical guitar ballad; Fires itself up again in the final minutes, the lead guitar melody echoes that of the acoustics, while rhythm section brings some of that blackened intensity to the forefront again, already giving the album a sense of thematic consistency, even if the sudden transitions can feel jarring or at times, forced. These musical themes are carried into the title track which opens on marching bass and drum before frenetic grooves take hold, the tuning still carrying a dark tone, yet the movements and musical arrangements, feel strangely infectious and charming. Indeed, I would actually say this is one of my favourites on the album in the way the song layers itself, creating an unpredictable atmosphere.
Ipnoauta emphasizes a more subdued side to Juggernaut’s personality, the clever usage of synthesizers and the subtle flourishes, creating an almost psychedelic, yet no less emotional experience – not that the song doesn't have peaks and valleys cause it absolutely does. At times, we lurch into moments of sheer euphoric madness or tension, as if the composition itself is a wave and the instruments are water particles, rising and falling in constant, though unpredictable motion. In fact, these players show from start to finish that they know how to utilize chaos just as well as bliss. Look at Charade for example which seems to thrive on keeping the audience in a state of awesome beguilement, this song's structure is incredibly difficult, if not outright impossible to discern. Still, the brilliant performances, their intelligent interactions, and the penchant the group as a whole have for randomness and changeability makes a seemingly structureless anthem thrive,
Titanismo is probably my least favourite song here, as while the experiments with oriental trappings and the reliance on keyboards make for a different experience, some of the tones and flavours which they attempt to capture a weird, hypnotic feeling, are not tasteful, and don’t blend well. Whatsmore, while the irregular and uneven changes work wonders at times, here’s where they feel messy, beginning to hinder the cohesion of the record as a whole. Aracnival has a hint of redemption, being based on a spidery riff that twists and contorts itself in a myriad of different directions, yet ultimately ends up displaying another flaw: in stages, Neuroteque is tiresome and laborious.
We close on Orbitalia, which makes good on the promise of ending on a dramatic note, progressing from small-scale, yet detailed and beautiful, into gigantic and crescendoing. The take away from the experience is that despite its flaws, you cannot deny the ambition on display here. Juggernaut carry more passion through their instrumentals than some artists carry through a million words. Not everything here is to my tastes, yet I feel this is one of those rare instances where I, as a critic, must step back and acknowledge the value of subjectivity. 7/10
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