BABYMETAL - THE OTHER ONE - The Singles, Reviewed

BABYMETAL - THE OTHER ONE - The Singles, Reviewed

I reckon BABYMETAL are genuinely one of the more interesting metal acts in recent years. Yeah, you can make jokes about it being metal music for weebs, and talk about how their fusion of metal, J-Pop, electro, rap and everything else is just a tacky novelty, but despite all that, I have been known to enjoy their music, albeit in small doses, and mostly for the novelty. I thought a handful of tracks off of their self-titled album were decent, and a few tracks from the follow up, but I never really followed them too closely, especially after I got word of the departure of their main vocalist. Regardless, I was undeniably intrigued about their new concept album, ‘THE OTHER ONE’, dropping on March 24th. The reasons for this were mainly because, not only were the reviews of 2019’s ‘Metal Galaxy’ quite respectable, but I thought that, with time, perhaps some of the overly cutesy cheesiness of their early days had worn off, and that now they were capable of producing something with genuine staying power. So, let’s check out the singles and see.

METAL KINGDOM

It seems BABYMETAL are going the orchestral power metal route here and can’t really be mad at it. The intro is quite nice, with dramatic layers of strings and plinky pianos, eventually supplemented by layers of tribal and metallic percussion. There is a synth line put overtop of this but it works well for sure. Then, when that chorus hits with those huge metal riffs, drums and choirs, the force of it hits you like a train. Yes, it is pretty overproduced, and the base metal elements themselves are quite bog standard, but it comes together quite well. I think the way the minimal intro instrumental shifts and swells in the verses is rather cool, and while the transitions between sections could be a bit smoother, it doesn’t affect the enjoyability. Talking of structure though, the track does seem to repackage the same ideas in slightly different contexts, meaning that it doesn’t quite have the development or variation you’d expect with a six minute runtime. Some of these sections are cool, don't get me wrong, but I just wish there was a little more to it. Vocally I actually think this one was very strong. Again, the big group “woah-oh-oh”s on the chorus are a bit overdone, but otherwise, I don’t have many complaints. I actually think the very grand and dramatic melodies being sung work well not only in the verses, but particularly the chorus too, and the backing vocals are used nicely as well. Lyrically, it is very run-of-the-mill, fantastical, power metal lyric generator type stuff, with talks of kingdoms, freedom, wars, prosperity in a new land, all that good stuff. So yeah, not great, but at the same time I’m not exactly expecting Kendrick Lamar level lyricism. This track may be very over the top, very overproduced, a little indulgent, lyrically not great, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit, so sue me.

Divine Attack - Shingeki -

This one is full throttle right from the get go, with thick, pummeling metal riffs and drums barrelling toward you at high speed, and they actually feel really exhilarating to tell the truth, both in the intro and throughout, and that post-chorus solo is genuinely pretty gnarly. The verse is a lot more minimal, going for a combination of breakbeats, guitars and strings that is definitely more in their wheelhouse. Not mind blowing, but it works decently well, and the way they incorporate DnB drum rhythms in the chorus is fairly nice too. The only mark against this track musically, aside from again sounding very overproduced, is that the atmospheric bridge with the guitars and strings is pretty much redundant, serving as little more than a build up. Lyrically though, and particularly vocally, there are a few issues. I won’t dwell on the lyrics for too long, as they're basically just the same, generic power metal stuff about battles and revolution, but with a bit of “forge your own path” rhetoric thrown in for good measure. Vocally though, this one, at least for me, is a straight miss. The performance isn’t bad, granted, but it’s just nowhere near as catchy or distinct as ‘Metal Kingdom’, and almost feel like they’re fighting for space sometimes, which makes sense given the claustrophobic mix, but still. The chorus though, doesn’t sound good at all, with the big group vocal harmonies being so hard tuned in addition to their general over-the-topness, that it’s genuinely grating to listen to. Overall, some admirable elements here for sure, but a tangible step down in overall quality for me personally.

Monochrome

While there are still things I like about this track, it’s definitely my least favourite of the three. Musically it suffers from the same problems as the previous tracks, but in a much more pronounced capacity. I’ll admit, some of the riffs and drums are pretty gnarly, particularly the rapid fire kick drums, which, programmed or not, are really cool sounding. Also, as cheesy as it is, I do find the soaring guitar lead over the chorus quite catchy. Otherwise though, this track is very, very overproduced, and I know I’ve said that twice already, but here it’s at its most heinous. The way the thick walls of riffs are interjected with gurgling electronic textures and atmospheres in the intro just sound really tacky, and don’t even really fit too well in terms of structure, nor do the noisy, glitchy transitions. If you thought that was bad, I’d argue that the first verse’s inclusions of faint synth melodies and trap drums (yes, trap drums), are the tackiest addition to any track so far. Thankfully they don’t return, and the more boilerplate modern metal in the following verses is far more agreeable. That being said, the very spacious, synthetic sound of the bridge sounds just as out of place. The lyrics are actually a relative bright spot here, discussing how in the wake of grief (either a breakup or death, whichever makes more conceptual sense), the world can seem so much more miserable, the image of a “monochrome firework” being a quite compelling one. Vocally though, my complaints from ‘Divine Attack’ carry over, as the pop-isms on display are at a garish high. The melodies are fairly catchy, for sure, but the vocal processing is very obvious, and not done very well. Add to this the incessant “ooo-woo-ooo” backing vocals, and it’s more annoying than anything else. This track seems to be trying to balance elements of pop, electronic and modern metal all at their most potent, with predictably unlikeable results.

Light and Darkness

While this fourth single does arguably suffer from many of the same problems as the previous, I will say that it is quite a bit more enjoyable in comparison. For instance, musically, while the implementation of a thumping, four-on-the-floor style house beat and synth bass arpeggios aren’t exactly the most seamless, and are on balance maybe the track’s tackiest element, I do like a lot of the dramatic, soaring and shredding guitar work throughout, and the heavier power metal sections with the live drums going full pelt sound pretty damn cool. Additionally, I think that for the most part, the use of pianos and string sections is quite effective, and actually work better in the heavier chorus parts adding that extra dramatic texture than they do in the mellow, forlorn verses, where they do feel slightly clichéd. Finally, while the overproduction is still present, it does feel slightly toned down, or just simply that there’s less going on, and is definitely more palatable because of it. The only major spanner in the works that act against this is the vocals. Like with every other track, it’s undeniable that BABYMETAL know how to craft a catchy vocal run, and that on balance, the performances are pretty decent throughout. Again, the lyrics about searching for hope and joy in a pessimistic world are fine enough, if fairly unremarkable, but that’s to be expected by now. The biggest problem is again down to production, because, no matter how good the performances are, the level of vocal processing is absolutely heinous, and makes nearly every note sound super artificial and slightly grating, which really is a shame. So while I definitely enjoyed this more than others, it’s a bit of a “lesser of the evils” situation more than anything.

So now that I’ve heard these singles, what are my hopes for the album? Well, these tracks weren’t perfect, far from it, but it is a definite improvement from basically everything I’ve heard from them previously, and I’m actually intrigued to see what other tricks they have up their sleeves. Will it be my favourite album of the year? Probably not, no. Will I be pleasantly surprised in places? Very possibly.