August 2020 Feature Release - The Revolution Edition

It's now August which of course means that we'll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we're asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter.   

This month's feature release for The Revolution is 2014's hugely popular self-titled debut album from Japanese trance metal icons BABYMETAL which divided the metal audience with its commercially accessible combination of j-pop & alternative metal. Is this record a travesty or a triumph for metal music? Do you think there's a place for this sort of release within the confines of our beloved scene?

https://metal.academy/releases/5462

For an album with as much going on as the self titled debut from BABYMETAL has, I find it very difficult to find much to say about the music itself. It borrows elements from across the entire musical spectrum into one very messy album. There is trap, reggae, oriental, dubstep, nu-metal, power metal, j-pop. I enjoy the power metal moments the most (such as the songs "Akatsuki" and the closer "Ijime, Dame, Zettai"), but everything feels forced in to cover as many bases as possible.

But the real reason why I am even reviewing this is because of the cultural impact it had when it was released. I was there to see the ridiculous backlash that this group faced when they dared to mix j-pop with heavy metal. Some people even went so far as to say that this album is the reason why metal died in the 2010s. When it comes to branching out and creating something that is accessible; to be consumed by a wide audience, BABYMETAL are the group that we needed. Heavy metal has always been isolated from the mainstream. I don't know how many people reading this feel the same way, but for a time, I fully embraced this outcast status, and in some regards, I still do to this day. But I am always welcoming of new faces into our clique in hopes of expanding our outreach. That's why I find it infuriating when metal acts do find some mainstream popularity, much of the metal community shuns them and treats them as "non-metal". We all have to start somewhere, and if BABYMETAL is the band that leads you down the rabbit hole to more interesting, and for lack of a better term, interesting music, then so be it.

That was long winded. I do not mean to insult anyone with my words, but the gatekeeping surrounding metal (and all genres of music for that matter) genuinely upsets me. As for BABYMETAL themselves, I think their reputation is tainted by poor single selection. If they chose one of the Power Metal leaning songs as promotional singles, they may have fared better.

5/10

P.S. I'm kind of disappointed that more people haven't gotten involved in talking about this album. I am genuinely intrigued to hear what my fellow metal fans think of this.

Going to post my review for BABYMETAL'S Metal Galaxy here since it echos a lot of the short points I'll make about this one.

https://metal.academy/reviews/14061/14278

Surprisingly, Metal Galaxy is much better put together than this debut, with a lot of the songs on here being EXTREMELY erratic and silly, with most of the choruses being completely different songs than the verses. There's a surprising amount of harsh vocals in this one too and even though they're not the greatest thing ever, the fact that they stick around for a pretty long time does speak volumes for BABYMETAL'S attempt to really bring as much Metal as they could into their performance. 

At the end of the day though, BABYMETAL is very much just a performance, with their history being rooted in some Japanese idol group manager who happened to love Metal deciding to take the chance on a new act. It obviously went over very well, with them becoming a household name just because of how strange and different it was. I'm not going to lie, I absolutely rolled my eyes whenever someone told me that "BABYMETAL goes hard af" or anything like that since I was already starting to dive into the more extreme sides of Metal in 2013/2014. Like Saxy said, they certainly have a place in the mainstream Metal community to try and ease people into harsh vocals and Death Metal riffage. It was always eerily similar to Rammstein when "Du Hast" made its rounds thanks to Rock Band 3. Everyone knew the weird German song with the "NEIN" shouts and the heavy as hell riff, and it was the same sort of story with BABYMETAL'S "Gimme Chocolate!!" and "Megitsune".  

I think the newer albums do a way better job of incorporating the girls' voices and general wackiness that they have, but this debut certainly had a lot of...ideas. A lot of them aren't very good, but a few do work. The crazy rhythm game synths and Eurobeat are pretty good in some tracks, some of the solos rip pretty hard, and there's a ton of variety, but there are just way too many things that make me roll my eyes. It's just all over the place, with "Megitsune" being the only track that I legitimately think is pretty great. It does have its place in the Alternative Metal scene and I'd love to hear more bands experiment with this sort of sound without being so pandering and off-the-wall, like an even more Metal version of Wagakki Band. Look them up, their songs "Tengaku" and "Senbozakura" are massively popular (127m views? Jeez I didn't know they were THAT popular) and I'd love to see a middle ground between that and BABYMETAL. It probably exists somewhere out there, especially since we have that Vengeful Spectre release from this year. 

2/5