Poll: Babymetal

[Weaver]

dafuq did I just watch?

Seriously though, it's Jpop over a Metal background and I ... have no real problem with that. Not my thing. Not horrifying, but I wouldn't listen to it either. It's a silly, but potentially amusing gimmick and some people might like that. If it gets them out of pure pop and into actual rock or metal, good by me.

I really don't care what your entry drug is.

Also, I will ask this, and this is a serious question for the metal heads: why in hell do you actually like the gravelly incoherent lyric style? I was looking at the video for Galmet and it reminded me of a lot of metal bands popping up in the mid to late '90's and which have appeared to have assumed the primary definition of "metal" now. Even Dethklok is more coherent than a lot of this.

Not criticizing, asking honestly because I don't get it. I always enjoy having good singers with actual tone and melodies, which used to be a part of the metal scene (no, I'm not referencing glamhairshit from the '80s), but this seems to be the accepted go-to norm now?

On that note, I actually found the Bridear tracks above pretty great.

I'm really not a metal head, I don't like the gravel voice either.
That said I don't think it's fair to comment on Galmet's coherency unless you speak Japanese (which you could! I don't know you!).

I'm not against yelling but I just hate that parrot squawking metal where every word is chirped out with a short grunt.

Machine Head is probably my favourite metal band and I think they strike a good balance.

 

[Me55enger]

I must be doing something wrong. I fell from metal into folk, from Disturbed to Frank Turner. This stuff just doesnt float my boat.

 

[Nickolai77]

I "like" them in a sort of "lol what on earth is this?" kind of way. The music itself isn't good, but the sheer novelty and surrealism of it all makes it entertaining. I like how the Japanese mix and match music genres we consider separate in the West-Sometimes it works and sometimes it's doesn't though. I think in the first video around 2:50 ish it sounded like something interesting was about to happen instrumentally but I was left disappointed. The dancing is the only good part of it all really.

Also, I will ask this, and this is a serious question for the metal heads: why in hell do you actually like the gravelly incoherent lyric style? I was looking at the video for Galmet and it reminded me of a lot of metal bands popping up in the mid to late '90's and which have appeared to have assumed the primary definition of "metal" now. Even Dethklok is more coherent than a lot of this.

Not criticizing, asking honestly because I don't get it. I always enjoy having good singers with actual tone and melodies, which used to be a part of the metal scene (no, I'm not referencing glamhairshit from the '80s), but this seems to be the accepted go-to norm now?

On that note, I actually found the Bridear tracks above pretty great.

Hey, not all fans of metal music like growling and screaming vocals!

There are plenty of metal bands out there which don't use growling/screaming vocals. Most of these are power metal bands like Helloween or Gamma Ray, but there are other bands from other genres like Delain, Iron Maiden or Ayreon which have "clean" vocals. There are also a lot of bands which sort of do a mixture of both (Eluveite or Die Apokalyptischen Reiter for instance) which can be quite infuriating for me when i'm listening to a song i'm enjoying then they suddenly the vocals become too growly for my taste.

There's also plenty of bands which have a sort of deep, growly vocal style but don;t go the whole hog- e.g- Rammstein or Alestorm. Those I like but I imagine to most people their vocal style is too extreme.

I personally can't understand the appeal the growly or screamy vocals, but If I was to make a guess I think it adds a sense of "power" and depth to the music which compliments the style of the music. I personally don't like it generally but each to their own I guess.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I've heard some of their stuff and enjoy it. Then again, I'm a fan of J-Rock, J-Pop, Visual Kei, etc...Good as they are, they're no Seikima II:

 

[Clowndoe]

As someone who listens exclusively to thrash, black, doom, death and traditional metal:

They can perform, but that doesn't stop the two-chord riffs and the completely inappropriate vocals (voice and lyrics-pacing) from making me pause the video.

 

[Something Amyss]

That was ass. And nothing particularly new. I wish I could remember which song the chorus of "Give me Choco" was taken from, because I'd rather listen to that. It's almost verbatim, melody and structure wise.

 

[elvor0]

Ill be honest, they don't actually sound much different from the generic metal you get these days. Death Metal verse, guitars tuned down to drop A and the gain pushed to max with no idea of tone, because it's SO HEAVY MAAAAN, and then a lifeless high pitch slow chorus. At least these lot have the excuse of being Japanese girls though. And hey there was actually a guitar solo! Because that's another thing that fucks me off, huge build up...and then back to the chorus! Where's the fucking guitar solo? Western metal bands that all follow this pattern? You're fucking SHITE!

Besides those bands can be easily ignored with one simple rule: If they have a phrase as a name they're likely crap. This has yet to fail me.

dafuq did I just watch?

Seriously though, it's Jpop over a Metal background and I ... have no real problem with that. Not my thing. Not horrifying, but I wouldn't listen to it either. It's a silly, but potentially amusing gimmick and some people might like that. If it gets them out of pure pop and into actual rock or metal, good by me.

I really don't care what your entry drug is.

Also, I will ask this, and this is a serious question for the metal heads: why in hell do you actually like the gravelly incoherent lyric style? I was looking at the video for Galmet and it reminded me of a lot of metal bands popping up in the mid to late '90's and which have appeared to have assumed the primary definition of "metal" now. Even Dethklok is more coherent than a lot of this.

Not criticizing, asking honestly because I don't get it. I always enjoy having good singers with actual tone and melodies, which used to be a part of the metal scene (no, I'm not referencing glamhairshit from the '80s), but this seems to be the accepted go-to norm now?

On that note, I actually found the Bridear tracks above pretty great.

Not a big fan of it either. I like bands that actually use it properly like "musically"; In Flames or Death (the originators of Death Metal) or Lamb of God and Amon Areth, but they don't go into warbling to the point of being incoherant to anyone without a lyric sheet, but I'm still more into sweeping vocals and more melodic music, especially if it's got symphonic elements. Stuff that sounds "epic", in the proper sense.

But you're right most bands just use it these days because it's so heavy man, mainly American bands or Metalcore. Nordic countries have the good stuff, both in terms of Death Metal, (though obviously if you're not into it, you're not into it) and that's where the best Metal comes from these days.

 

[duwenbasden]

Also, I will ask this, and this is a serious question for the metal heads: why in hell do you actually like the gravelly incoherent lyric style? I was looking at the video for Galmet and it reminded me of a lot of metal bands popping up in the mid to late '90's and which have appeared to have assumed the primary definition of "metal" now. Even Dethklok is more coherent than a lot of this.

Not criticizing, asking honestly because I don't get it. I always enjoy having good singers with actual tone and melodies, which used to be a part of the metal scene (no, I'm not referencing glamhairshit from the '80s), but this seems to be the accepted go-to norm now?

I don't. None of the bands I regularly listen to does that style of growls, and they are mostly from the 90/00s (think Soilwork, In Flames, Amaranthe, Delain, etc...)

 

[Alarien]

Well, I'm glad to see that a lot of the metal fans here sort of mirror my thoughts on the incoherent growls. I don't mind low pitch/gravelly, though I'm not a fan particularly. However, the completely incoherent ones really boggle me.

On the subject of Galmet, I actually am not fluent and don't speak Japanese. However, I listen to Japanese almost daily. I can hear the language and am pretty adept at breaking up the word structure and being able to repeat it. Not the same as fluency, but I can certainly "hear Jimmy" in that respect. I wasn't a fan of her vocals, so much.

Again, I really don't have anything against it, but it's not my thing. I just like good rock music, and good metal is just a genre within good rock.

 

[william12123]

Well, I have just found the music to play if I ever want to drive metalhead friends to madness.

 

[teamcharlie]

On the plus side, I've now learned a new thing. On the minus side, what I learned is that this genre of music exists and apparently sells. Oh well.

I'm honestly starting to long for the days of Milli Vanilli. Sure they were lip synching, but at least that meant that the people singing pop music were actually professional singers as opposed to auto-tuned models.

 

[mindfaQ]

Not really metal but pop and that is okay. I like it, at least not as boring as most metal.

 

[Cerebrawl]

Well, I'm glad to see that a lot of the metal fans here sort of mirror my thoughts on the incoherent growls. I don't mind low pitch/gravelly, though I'm not a fan particularly. However, the completely incoherent ones really boggle me.

On the subject of Galmet, I actually am not fluent and don't speak Japanese. However, I listen to Japanese almost daily. I can hear the language and am pretty adept at breaking up the word structure and being able to repeat it. Not the same as fluency, but I can certainly "hear Jimmy" in that respect. I wasn't a fan of her vocals, so much.

Again, I really don't have anything against it, but it's not my thing. I just like good rock music, and good metal is just a genre within good rock.

Personally my favorite is when the vocalist is a good singer, it can be rough and throaty, and preferably have some power behind it, but it should be song. I'm very particular about vocals.
Some examples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzFkc7Z2YOQ (Tad Morose, singer Urban Breed)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHoBTccNe4g (Bloodbound, again Urban Breed)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNimW2q1yRU (Trail of Murder, more Urban Breed!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpV8MkSMLU4 (Evergrey, Tom S Englund, probably the most emotional voice on the list)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yERGl9VQ5E (WASP, Blackie Lawless)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1gwChhq7xQ (Stride, Gary Belin, possibly the most flexible/highest range on the list)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeuVrA9FsdA (Iron Savior, Piet Sielck)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3moLkjvhEu0 (Disturbed, David Draiman)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR2A-mmzKlY (Sebastian Bach, possibly his only good song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RHNEJVM-GA (Russel Allen & Jorn Lande, they can get a bit AoR)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxTfktXzPkc (Pyramaze, Lance King)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg7r31QxIS0 (Kamelot, Roy Khan)

And of course the ladies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXLBktjh_N8 (Nightwish, Tarja Turunen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4wt9kLexnM (Within Temptation, Sharon den Adel)

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Eh, yeah. That was ... something, I think.

I'm suddenly getting images in my head of those whispy girls crowdsurfing and moshing in a wall of death. It's at the same time hilarious and terrifying. I'm also thinking that depending on who their audience is, they'd get snapped in half, molested or possibly both.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Entirely meh. The music itself is okay, I suppose (just seems like generic metalcore/aggro-thrash stuff, tbh). The vocals don't really work for me, though. They are just too... Cute, most of the time. And it is really jarring to hear that with the music.

Basically... If I want to listen to an all-girl japanese metal band, I will listen to Gallhammer, thank you very much. XD

 

[BreakfastMan]

EDIT: Lol, double post. Please remove.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

Well, that was odd. I voted "Gimmicky" in the poll. That's not necessarily a bad thing, GWAR is wonderfully ridiculous, but these girls just seem to be dancers who happen to sing in front of some dudes making generic metal riffs. Definitely had some catchy bits, but Japanese cutesy girls singing over metal is not exactly my favorite thing.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Ah, this. I don't like it because it's good, but it's ridiculous and hilarious. I'd genuinely love to see them play a festival like Bloodstock or Sonisphere, it would be a great laugh.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

At the first song I was like

The third song wasn't as terrible, but still just run-of-the mill absolutely totally mediocre tripe.

But that first song! It sounds like something out of a surreal comedy anime parodying metal with cutesy chibi girls. Oh Japan, never change!