MARCH 14, 2017
theconcordian
13
RECOMMENDATIONS
3 BL ANCK MASS
World Eater (Sacred Bones Records, 2017)
Blanck Mass is a solo electronic/experiential music project by Benjamin John Power. Power’s recent album, World Eater is at level 100 when it comes to sound experiments. The opening track, “John Doe’s Carnival of Error,” is a short lullabye with a nostalgic sound one might have heard at an amusement park or carnival as a child. It has a spooky, alluring essence as the same hook is repeated continuously, making it a hypnotic electronic tune. “Rhesus Negative” is a storm of electronic sounds coming at you from all directions. If your happy place is being surrounded by constant loud noises, this track will thrill you. “Please” tones it down a bit with slow, vibrant sounds, making it a peaceful electro dance song that is easy to follow compared to the other songs on the album. From industrial noises of all sorts to hardcore electronic bass lines, the album might sound like a cacophony to some, and a masterpiece of originality to others. 11 Trial track: “Rhesus Negative”
5/10 —
Sandra Hercegová, Music Editor
4 THE FRANKLIN ELECTRIC
Blue Ceilings (Indica Records, 2017)
Montreal-based alternative-rock band The Franklin Electric’s sophomore album is filled with delicate piano-playing and folk drum beats, which are complemented by lead singer Jon Matte’s textured and emotive vocals. “Burning Flame” is a piano-based ballad with a chord progression that is reminiscent of Hozier’s “Take Me To Church.” It is instrumentally simple, but the haunting vocal harmonies bring it to life. “All Along” is a standout track for its quick drum beat, subtle guitar riffs and emotional strings. Blue Ceilings is a good album to play on repeat while studying. The drumming is eclectic enough to put the listener in a productive mood, but the slower tempo of most tunes gives it a relaxing vibe. While the album is instrumentally cohesive overall, when listening to it in its entirety, many songs can sound similar. The record isn’t a jump musically from the band's debut, This is How I Let You Down, aside from the addition of some faint electronic sounds in some tracks, such as in their single “Walk With You."
A beginner’s guide to Kawaii metal An introduction to what may be your next cardio workout playlist ELISA BARBIER STAFF WRITER A fresh wave of metal, known as Kawaii metal, began its musical journey seven years ago in Japan. This new subgenre of metal had no difficulty finding its own spot in the music world. Its style has brought something unseen to the metal scene—a uniqueness that gathers fans of varied metal genres and subgenres to mosh. Kawaii metal is defined as a combination of Japanese pop, power metal and thrash metal. The power metal aesthetic in Kawaii metal brings an upbeat melody with clean, soft and usually high-pitched vocals. The trash metal element, on the other hand, adds complex instrumentals and aggressiveness with deep vocals and screams. Both sub-genres fuse double-bass drumming and complex guitar riffs to form Kawaii metal. The final sound component of Kawaii metal is an energetic and unique melody which combines soft and deep vocals. This sub-genre differs from the male-dominated metal scene as it uniquely introduces feminine voices to the world of heavy rock. Kawaii metal lyrics tend to differ from the typical, overly-covered topics in metal. The bands prefer to convey empowering and positive lyrics focusing on love rather than death, on life’s pleasure rather than pain, and on social problems rather than murder. One aspect specific to this sub-genre is its mandatory Japanese aesthetic. Kawaii metal singers wear cute, girly school or maid uniforms during their performances. The band’s choice of attire helps the band members develop their stage characters, which makes Kawaii metal performances unique to each band. One of the most well-known Kawaii metal groups is BABYMETAL. This band is composed of three singers and four musicians who are the centre of attention when it comes to Kawaii metal. When the group was
formed in 2013, the lead singer—nicknamed Su-metal—was just 13 years old, and the two other singers, Moametal and Yuimetal, were only 11, according to news website Inverse. The group developed a goth Lolita look with a concept centred on the uniqueness of their music. This concept is based on the “entity” invented by the band, the Fox God. The Fox God is a spirit—nor human, nor animal. According to the band, the Fox God selected the girls of BABYMETAL to be part of the group because they had no prior knowledge of metal, making them perfect in the eyes of the Fox God. As a rule held by the Fox God, BABYMETAL is never to reveal their future plans to the media or answer any questions regarding new projects—instead, in interviews, they simply say: “only the Fox God knows.” During the summer of 2014, BABYMETAL embarked on a world tour. This has helped Kawaii metal pierce through to the international music scene. Since 2014, the band has won 23 music awards. Not all listeners accept this style of metal as innovative. In fact, some metal fans don’t consider the genre to be representative of the spirit of metal as it appears as a musical
act or pop show. Some Kawaii metal groups, including BABYMETAL, have made it their goal to truly differentiate themselves from the pop music industry and instead represent the metal community as best as they can. Recently, BABYMETAL has had the honour of opening for Lady Gaga, Metallica, Guns ‘n’ Roses and, currently, Korn and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ on both of their U.S. tours. BABYMETAL also wrote and played the song “Road of Resistance” with DragonForce, according to BABYMETAL’s website. BABYMETAL’s Japanese tones and exciting guitar riffs attract many curious listeners and Japanese bands to follow suit. Notable Kawaii metal groups at the moment are Doll $ Boxx, BAND-MAID and LadyBaby. To stay true to the Japanese-pop aspect of Kawaii metal, all of the abovementioned bands have a specific concept and theme to attract and develop a specific target audience. Kawaii metal is a great go-to genre to get your body moving if you’re looking for motivation to study, exercise or do chores. For those who wish to explore Kawaii metal further, Twitter is a good place to start, as you’ll find an active community sharing new groups and songs.
Explore Ka wa i i M etal BABYMETAL:
Megitsune Ijime, Dame, Zettai Headbanger Catch me if you can Karate Road of Resistance Awadama Fever LadyBaby: Nippon Manju Age Age Money C’est si bon Kibun
Doll $ Boxx: from Dolls Apartment: Monopoly Take my Chance
BAND-MAID:
Thrill Don’t let me Down Don’t You Tell ME
11 Trial track: “All Along"
6.5/10
— Cristina Sanza, Editor-in-Chief
Moametal, Su-metal, and Yuimetal of BABYMETAL. Press photo from their first self-titled album.