So, the other day I'm jumping around YouTube looking for new and different music and bands, mainly just to expand my horizons a bit and see if there's anything out that catches my attention. Well, yeah, something did.

This.

And my reaction was "what the hell???" Don't get me wrong, this isn't a BabyMetal "What the Hell!" reaction. Rather, it's a serious fusion of J-Metal, symphonic metal, and old-fashioned (my era) speed metal in certain parts. Yet, it still has the J-pop(py) feel to it. (I suspect that's more because it's a young Japanese woman singing in Japanese and I haven't heard enough music from the culture to distinguish between the different genres). I'm finding myself seriously liking it for the music, and the rhythm and cadence of the singer is a positive (but again, I am not aware enough to know if that is because of the language or if it's her style in particular). She also has a good voice.

So, I decided to pop it in here to (1) get your reactions to it, (2) see if anyone can further enlighten me on it, and (3) can translate lyrics (I've looked and found only one place, and the person seemed unsure of the translation at several points).

Note: "Why do I like it" is a rhetorical question for you smartasses who are about to type "Weeb" or "Yellow-fever".

 

I have no idea what I just listened to other than that I did like it. Singer does have a good voice, just not what I'd expected with this kind of backdrop, but it works.

 

Sounds like pretty average J-metal to me. That said I'm not a metal enthusiast and my only real exposure to J-metal, J-pop, and J-rock is through anime.

But yeah. It was decent. It would make a good ED for some edgy grit-filled seinen show.

 

Interesting you should say that. Another one of their songs became the ED for several of the shows, it seems.

 

I don't know what you find "what the hell" about Yousei Teikoku (or Babymetal for that matter) unless you mean their Fairy Empire PR act.

Personally I like the more dynamic part of their repertoire, finding the slower ones pretty bland. Though it must be noted that I mostly listened to the songs they recorded for anime and VNs.

 

Eh, not really my thing. Some of the riffs reminded me of Cruelty and the Beast-era Cradle of Filth (the only album of their's I've liked). Also made me think of Epica and the poppier Nightwish tracks.

Since you started this looking for new and different music, check these two out. Maybe you've heard them before, but if not, the first often gets lumped in "vapourwave" mixes on YouTube. I'm not sure what that is, but there's a certain aesthetic/vibe to it that I can sorta spot. The 2nd is fairly recent American metal, that's equal parts early Maiden and Megadeth. I'm not too into metal anymore, but I love that album.

 

The vocals, to me, sound very much like J-pop (or pop in general). It's the mix of that with the heavier instruments. Again, it just may be the way metal is done in Japan, or it may be that I'm not exposed enough to different genres of music coming out of Japan and thus, can't differentiate between female vocals of pop vs. metal. Nevertheless, that's the "what the hell." Well, that and the steampunk crap in that particular video.