The novelty of this album lies in the fact that the J-Pop group features a guest artist on each track. The only reason I decided to give this album a listen is because Poppy and Spiritbox are on it. Both artists flirt between the boundaries of what is metal and pop, just because an album has distorted guitars and some screaming on it does not make the album metal, metal is an aggressive feeling of darkness, that can be expressed in a few ways that is why we have over a dozen sub-genre, that split into a half dozen more sub-genre, so i am breaking each track down to score how metal it is on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being pop to 10 being the level of metal that bands like Nails and Morbid Angel exist on, We can say Slipknot is a 9, solo Ozzy an 8, 7 being hard rock with metal influences a band like Alice in Chains, 6 being just loud rock think Motley Crue,
"from me to u"
Is an OK pop song thanks to Poppy's contributions, though not the most original thing. They seem more like cheerleaders when not just employing melodies that sound like they could be played on the opening sequence of any anime. The guitars sound like they were sampled from a digital audio workstation, which, knowing Jordan Fish, who produced this it would not surprise me.
metal score- 3
"Ratatata"
This one is a collaboration with Electric Callboy, another "metal core' artist not unlike Bad Omens, who is more of a pop artist than they are metal, though they have wisely partnered with artists like HEALTH and Poppy , to give them more balls, Electric Callboy is less discerning, and in truth this album feels like Disneyfying the concept of metal as a marketing gimmick. This one has heavier production and a harsher vocal accent, but not much heavier than the previous song.
metak score- 4
"Song 3"
This song was on Slaughter to Prevail 's new album, so perhaps they agreed to share the rights and allowed Babymetal to use it on their album despite Alex Terrible and his comrades being the driving force behind it.
Metal Score- 8
"Kon ! Kon!"
With Bloodywood on this track, it is like the ethnic gimmicks had collided. Bloodywood brings a more nu-metal sound to the song, which feels more like System of a Down's more pop-inflected moments. It's pretty much a mish-mash of musical nonsense.
Metal Score- 4
"KxAxWxAxIxI"
It's just the schoolgirls by themsevles on this one which is more electronic music, that mixes dub-step with trap, it has a groove, but that is about it , though I think when they fully embrace the fact they are pop artists, they are at least not trying to be something they are not, and it works better.
Metal Score- 2
"Sunset Kiss"
This one features Polyphia, who is an artist I have never given much of a thought to. It sounds like tracks Spiritbox was planning on using but scrapped when they got better ideas. Yes, there are lots of technical guitar dynamics and solos, but they feel pretty hollow
Metal Score- 4
"My Queen"
This one features Spiritbox, while you can hear the influence they had on this one, this is not up to the quality of writing they showed on their most recent album, which was stellar, so this is a disappointment. The breakdown Courtney shows up on makes the heaviest moment behind what was basically a Slaughter to Prevail song.
Metal Score- 6
"Algorism"
Is another song that finds Babymetal on their own, and the results are pretty sad. I mean if you are into J-Pop, it's going to be the best of an already disposable genre of music.
Metal Score- 2
"Metal !"
The only thing I respect about Tom Morello is his love of Kiss. So he is not a key selling point for anything. The only thing metal about this song is its title. The little girls sing better, and this one, but overall it's a pretty stupid song, and nothing about it is metal.
Metal Score- 2
"White Flame"
This is the 3rd song of a 10-song album that is just Babymetal, meaning they need lots of help. It once again sounds like it could be the generic theme song for any anime, no heavier than what you might find on Netflix
Metal Score -3
Overall Metal score- Rounding it down to a 3.5 feels fair enough, considering beyond the production and sonics, the feel of this album is the least metal thing, so more metal than Taylor Swift, about on par with what it might sound like if Katy Perry tried to make a rock album.
In terms of overall songwriting quality, which is what I normally base reviews on, things like replay value and how long it will stand the test of time, I will give this a 5, making it one of the worst albums I have sat through this year so far.
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