Hanabie – Reborn Superstar!
Hanabie – Reborn Superstar!
Sony Music
Release Date: 11/08/23
Running Time: 29:00
Review by Rory Bentley
7/10
Here’s a turn up for the books: the fat tattooed skinhead lad on the wrong side of his mid-thirties is reviewing the Kawai J-Pop/Metal album with the anime cover. Although I’m not in any danger of going full weeaboo anytime soon, I have watched Attack on Titan and I do fall very much on the pro- Babymetal side of the divide amongst Metal fans. I think they’re fun and they have a bunch of great songs and the music is genuinely interesting, even if it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. In fact the mere fact that they boil the piss of the aromatically-challenged trve Metal soap dodgers will always curry my favour. Because I fucking hate those people. With that being said, the question is can Hanabie and their more raucous take on the whole J-Pop/Metal collision carve a space in my callous heart?
Honestly this album is a lot of fun and ticks a lot of my boxes. The songs get to the point, the focus is getting to the hooks as soon as possible and there is an obnoxious energy to every facet of the sound. ‘Blast Off’ manages the rare feat of being an intro instrumental track that feels essential and establishes the baseline energy level of what’s to come, and ‘Hyperdimension Party’ immediately lets you know if this is for you or not. If you don’t like Metalcore breakdowns fused with 2010s club beats then this is gonna be a rough ride for you. Fortunately I have a lot of time for both of these things, having spent my twenties getting smashed at every nightclub in Leicester largely down to the fact that my friends all worked in the bar industry and I didn’t have to pay to get in anywhere. I’m now too old for any of that so hearing a garish Calvin Harris beat makes me pine for those days of jagerbombs and being unbelievably hungover at work.
The now very stale formula of switching between shouty and singy is giving a bit of new life across the record as those sugary sweet J-Pop choruses offer a far more effective counterpoint than some neck tattooed dweeb whining about feelings. Rather than coming over like a momentum-killing damp squib, the melodic hook in ‘Tales of Villain’ is just as extreme as the Metal attack of the verses, almost psychotically positive. In fact for many these choruses will be far more off-putting than the more traditionally abrasive elements, I’m not even sure if the layered vocals on ‘Today’s Good Day & So Epic’ are even technically in tune but I kind of dig the manic energy they’re delivered with.
For me the standout moment is the bonkers banger and lead single ‘Be the GAL- Early Summer version’ which has some mental rapped sections and a Dance hook straight out of the David Guetta playbook. It also has a full on old school Thrash section and a surprisingly restrained guitar solo. It’s fucking mental but I can’t stop playing it.
Hanabie cram a lot into “Reborn Superstar!”’s slender runtime and what they lack in finesse and subtlety is more than made up for with the rabid enthusiasm of a bunch of kids that have had too many E-numbers. The Babymetal comparisons were inevitable but the band’s feral take on this now established sound is enough to make them worth your time.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Blast Off
02. Hyperdimension Galaxy
03. NEET GAME
04. BE THE GAL- early summer ver.
05. Tales of Villain
06. Warning!!
07. ME, The Ultimate Invader of The Universe
08. TOUSOU
09. Pardon Me, I Have to Go Now.
10. Today’s Good Day & So Epic
LINE-UP:
Yukina – vocals
Matsuri – guitars / backing vocals
Hettsu – bass / backing vocals
Chika – drums / backing vocals
LINKS:
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