Independent Release
Review by Davide Torresan
It’s hard to do a little biography of this band. The main fault is their country of origin: Japan. You can understand it from the artwork of the album, “Hellmet”, which I’m going to review. It has some colored drawings since there are some funny skulls. Ｇ∀ＬＭＥＴ is a girl metal band, and I have to say that from the few pics and videos on internet they look like some characters of the anime “Nana”. Unfortunately I do not know Japanese, but I wish to describe to you the feelings that this debut album caused to me. From the members’ pretty faces I was expecting a sort of symphonic metal band, like there are so many in Japan (and that often try to imitate the European groups). Instead, once you have pressed the “play” button, after a short piano intro, the very first song makes its appearance: “Treason Sky”. It has a overwhelming start with guitars and drums in the perfect death metal style. The thing that struck me the most is the alternation between the clean vocal and the rough one typical of death/black metal. I never expected such a thing from a group of pretty girls! I have to admit that the album is very easy to enjoy since it’s not too long. The thing that diverts attention while listening is the overuse of the growl. In fact the clean vocal will be recovered only in the final Bonus Track that, with a sweet melody of piano and the guitars in the background, screeches with the sound proposed so far. It must be said that the girls are really skilled with their instruments. The production is discrete though “Hellmet” is a a self-released album. These musicians have been able to propose intricate guitar riffs that often refer to thrash metal. I would like to make a special mention to the drummer which expresses all her skill and technique in many tempo changes, but even in the most calm parts of the album. Surely this “Hellmet” is not a masterpiece, but it’s very well done.
Rating – 68/100
Tracklist
- 序章～Prologue～
- Treason Sky
- Ɐnother/Mind
- 翼
- パラサイト
- Fangs of Slaves
- 記憶喪失 (New version)
- 愛の鋼鉄戦士メットさん
Line Up
- Mikki – Guitar & Vocals
- Ruki – Guitar
- Aya – Guitar
- Sawa – Bass
- Idyako – Drums