BABYMETAL - Metal Resistance - Review

There's just something about BABYMETAL, something at always makes me smile about what I'm listening to.  The way they mix J-Pop (which I really don't listen to, but we all know it's energetic to hear.) and heavy metal.  And this trio of girls, still quite young to be in a metal band at 18 and 16 just bring the good vibes in an onslaught of a sophomore album.  Usually you hear mixed vibes about bands' sophomore albums, often known as the "sophomore slump", but this is quite different.

I knew that they were coming out with Metal Resistance, after I heard the self-titled.  But I really didn't realize that it would be coming out at this point until I heard their song (and saw their video for the song) KARATE.  They brought forth one of the greatest I have heard from them, apart from Megitsune, Gimme Choko, and prett much all the songs from their self-titled. Parts of the chorus had me just melting, and bringing out the kawaii and of course, what listeners are sometimes describing as "Kawaii Metal), which truly fits.

Something that I really love about BABYMETAL's album is how different it is from the Babymetal album itself. Not that it was bad.  In fact it was fantastic to say the least, with mixing genres to bring a new, groundbreaking sound.  Every song from Metal Resistance is different, but the band themselves say that the songs are "more upbeat", which is true, but in my eyes the stands for a lot  of the music that they produce, with passion, but that's already known. 

Metal Resistance is everything I love about BABYMETAL, and more. From beginning to end, the vocals and instrumentals are amazing.

9/10

The Word Alive - Dark Matter - Review

So, the time has come for a brand new The Word Alive record. The band formed in 2008 and are currently signed to Fearless Records. Their brand new album titled "Dark Matter" is their 4th studio record.

There's always a mixed air when a band you love releases a new record. A mixture of nervousness that the record you've waited two years for will be a total flop and the excitement that it could just be your next favourite record ever. For me, this release does not quite hit either extremes. It's big and bold and takes on a sound that definitely screams maturity from the sounds observed on "Real." and "Life Cycles".  One thing I will point out is their is definitely darker sound to this record, for me. Songs like "Trapped" and "Grunge" seem to touch darker subjects than you're likely to find on their previous showings.

Now, The Word Alive have always been your run-of-the-mill metalcore outfit and have never really strayed too far from that tag but I couldn't help notice that track 5 "Insane" seemed to lean a little in the direction of new age Linkin Park at least instrumentally. It's mellow synths and huge chorus' would make Chester Bennington proud.

For this writer, one of the only down points of the record is that it, sort of, "peters out". In other words it gets a little boring towards the end making, what was actually a pretty good record, less than memorable. The final track "Oxy" repeats the line "What have I done?" so often it begs the question did Telle run out of lyrics by the end of this album.

Rating: 7/10
Favorite Song: Grunge

By Thommy Lea