Review by Ronnimetalpico Death

I recently discovered HANABIE through my love for other Japanese idol groups and rock bands. These girls are hardcore talented. Yukina is the main vocalist who can go from clean vocals to death growls like it is the easiest thing in the world to do (and she holds her own alongside the best of them). Matsuri's guitars are classic metal riffing (she also serves as a main vocalist between Yukina's verses). Hettsu holds down the bottom end with her bass lines (and sings backing vocals). Sae (relatively new to the band as a permanent member) holds it all together with her pounding drums. The album is full of songs that rock hard from start to finish. Production is nice and clean, too. Definitely a "must-have" for anyone who loves the current Japanese music scene!

The Kuromiya Sisters effing ROCK! 'KARMA' is such a killer mix of rock songs with just the right amount of punk attitude in the mix to keep it faithful to what these young ladies are all about, that I highly suggest you crank this mother up on full volume when listening to it... Aya (bass) and Rei (vocals) started this band around ten years ago when they were quite young. However, they really only began to take it to a more serious level after Rei left the idol group LADYBABY (which she joined in 2015 with Ladybeard and Rie Kaneko, and continued with Rie as The Idol Formerly Known As... when Richard "Ladybeard" left the group). This being the 2nd full album release from BRATS, it shows a more mature and experimental aspect of the group than represented on their first release a couple years ago (though that CD kicks ass also). If you are a BRATS fan, definitely get all four versions of this CD. Types A & B have different live bonus tracks and DVDs of music videos and live performance videos. Type C comes with a music score book for the eight CD tracks (excluding bonus material), while type D comes with a URL to download the music score. And honestly, the score book is too nice to abuse, so using the URL download is more practical if you want to keep the score book in pristine condition. I can't wait to see what these talented young ladies have in store for us on their next album...!? By the way... Rei Kuromiya has never sounded better than her singing on this album! You can take that to the bank! And if you can catch BRATS live (or a live stream)... DO IT! You won't regret it!

The future of metal is here... And it goes by the name Broken By The Scream. The name says it all, actually. But I will elaborate for the uninitiated. From the opening track until the next to last (#11), this album is a relentless cornucopia of heavy metal that assaults the senses in the very best of ways. Then, as the last track is much like the calm after a storm, you begin to think the chaos is over... That is until Io and Kagura add their death voices to the sweet vocals of Yae and Ayame. As the album finally comes to an end, you cannot help but to start it from the beginning once again. A masterpiece of the metal idol genre currently coming out of Japan, much like Babymetal and Ladybaby, but heavier, louder, and much more infectious. And the band that backs them up at live shows (appropriately called the Zombie Band, as they wear hidious zombie masks to hide their identities) are amazing as well (in fact, it is the lead guitarist (Electro Sonar) who composes the groups' music and I believe he also plays/programs everything on the album (I could be wrong about that, but that is what I have been led to believe). If you love metal, Noisy Night Fever is a "must have" for your music collection. And you can quote me on that!