Well, the official video for 'Metalizm' dropped today, taking me by surprise. This song is featured in BABYMETAL's latest album, 'The Other One'. It's clear the band has taken a whole new aesthetic and approach to their performances. No longer banking on kawaii, the focus seems to be more on creating this dynamic art form with all the talent they've developed over the years they've been performing.
I feel this art form to be unfortunately limited by the 2 dimensional medium of video it is presented in. This piece of work was designed to be more immersive than just the flat screen I'm watching it on. But the technology needed to fully appreciate this piece either hasn't been invented yet, or is simply as yet unaffordable. The best I could probably do is to strap on an Oculus headset to see and feel the swirling colours and rhythms everywhere I look instead of just straight ahead.
The song itself is hypnotic, trance-inducing. The pace of the music is somewhat slower, less frantic than many of their other songs, while the vocals are calmer, and (dare I say) designed not to test SU's range. In fact, from a quick glance at the translated lyrics, they remind me of descriptions of rather dramatic manga panels -- metal knights and metal kings in flight, bringing hope and light to the world.
The dance is full of sharp angles, perfectly synchronised, as always, creating beautiful patterns with the trio moving together, intricate yet powerful. What I see are depictions of the edginess of metal in the midst of swirling flames. The action to me is more reminiscent of forging rather than fighting, with the rhythmic pounding of hammer on anvil, and not the sharp clash of swords.
Perhaps this song is intended as a sort of palate cleanser within the concert repertoire. An item for a change of pace, and possibly a moment to recharge energy before the next big set piece.
The songs in this new album clearly signal maturity. Their performances of the past were quite literal storytelling theatre pieces. I'm happy they've now gained the confidence to simply play with their unique 3-D, multi-sensory canvas, comfortable in creating more abstract art, and letting their music speak for itself.
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