NataliezWorld

Japanese kawaii metal act known only as BabyMetal, has been making a buzz since their hit single “Gimme chocolate!!” debuted back in 2014, 10 years it’s been! Since then the band has made it’s way around the world, touring, playing shows, had member changes, line-up changes made to the band, with album releases made, videos, more touring had. So much has happened since, that it has brought the band back to the U.S. for another tour! This time concluding the tour with three shows in Anaheim, California’s House of Blues venue, and getting to attend the final night Thursday December 5th 2024, was an epic sold out performance.

Fans were already aligning along the outside patio area of the Garden Walk shopping center, the House of Blues being on the 4th floor, everyone was standing in the cold December air, as doors opened at 7PM, fans hurried inside, lining up yet again to buy merchandise, with everyone else grabbing a bite to eat or drink to drink, all others gathered along the balcony in the VIP section, others huddled on the floor. This being a sold out show, it had the audience awaiting the headliner’s BabyMetal performance to take place at 9PM. Opening the night would be one act known as Scene Queen, her pop/rock/rap antics causing quite a bit of chatter, her performance having a lot of verbal talk back to the audience, with some songs performed, but not gaining much traction. Some of the audience were into her performance, but everyone there was mostly there for BabyMetal, so Scene Queen’s ranting and raving was more or less a loss, she was a good performer, but the energy wasn’t as given as it could have been.

After her performance the merchandise line had been completely wiped out,  everyone inside the theater to catch the headliners, who went on precisely at 9PM. Playing for the next hour and roughly 15 minutes of a set, consisting of such songs as “Gimme Chocolate!!”, “Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!”, “PA PA YA!!”, “BABYMETAL DEATH”, among others, bringing their set to a total of 12 tracks in all. Not too bad, but with the band having what four albums to their name, maybe more songs could have made their set a bit more lengthy with maybe 15 songs or even 20 if possible, but perhaps next time?

BABYMETAL:

The performance done by the trio that is BabyMetal was done quite well, lot’s of dancing, headbanging of course, with lots of crowd interaction, asking the crowd to jump, sing and shout, mosh, and headbang! But some direction was needed to be had because the audience got the circle pit, mixed up with pushing and shoving, when everyone was suppose to go in a circular motion. Minus that mishap, the mosh pit was filled with lots of people, pushing one another, which way and that way, everyone within the crowd of on looker’s being into the whole vibe and feel of it all really.

All in all, BabyMetal is one of many Japanese bands out there, who always draws in an audience, selling out every performance possible. Tonight’s was no exception, they know how to keep an audience, build it up, and make it better, with each passing chance, making their journey into their metal galaxy, growing brought that as the fans say about them “BabyMetal 4 Life!”

SETLIST:

1. BABYMETAL DEATH
2. Distortion
3. PA PA YA!!
4. DA DA DANCE
5. METALI!!!
6. Monochrome
7. Time Wave
8. Megitsune
9. RATATATA
10. Gimme Chocolate!!
ENCORE:
11. Headbangeeeeeerrrrr!!!!
12. Road Of Resistance

Alternative rock band The Wholesome Boys have released two single's off their new album, "Desert Diamonds" and "Lies and Crying". Check out both HERE.

K-pop powerhouse CRAVITY has returned with their highly anticipated ‘single album’, FIND THE ORBIT, a collection of three tracks that showcase the group’s artistic growth and unyielding determination. Leading the release is the electrifying focus track “Now or Never,” accompanied by a
visually stunning music video that captures the members’ dynamic energy and thrilling new chapter. FIND THE ORBIT marks a pivotal moment in CRAVITY’s journey, symbolizing their
evolution as artists and their commitment to carving out a unique identity within the

K-pop landscape. The album draws inspiration from the concept of orbit: a path shaped by the balance of forces. CRAVITY’s nine members are like celestial bodies, navigating their own orbits while maintaining a perfect equilibrium. Through this journey of interaction and turbulence, they forge a new trajectory, representing their growth and unity. 

Co-written by members SERIM and ALLEN, “Now or Never,” embodies CRAVITY’s resolve to seize opportunities and embrace challenges head-on. With powerful guitar riffs, driving drums, and intense vocal melodies, the song is a bold declaration of their determination to rise to new heights. The music video complements the song’s high-energy vibe, portraying the members navigating their individual orbits in a suspenseful, visually arresting narrative.

““Now or Never” is about recognizing the importance of the moment and taking on
the world with confidence,” said CRAVITY. “We wanted to express our fearless approach to life and music through this track.” “Secret” is a nostalgic disco-pop anthem with a dreamy bass groove and falsetto
melodies. It explores the delicate transition from personal affection to a shared secret, creating a captivating feeling as if racing through a neon-lit city. “Horizon,” a track co-produced by member WOOBIN, captures the narrative of their recent appearance on the survival program Road to Kingdom: ACE OF ACE. The lyrics describe rising into the sky with their fans, LUVITY, in a long period of darkness. The song features a dreamy guitar riff over a drum-and-bass beat and vividly conveys the members' overwhelmed emotions.

Since their debut in 2020 under Starship Entertainment, CRAVITY has captivated fans worldwide with their innovative music and electrifying performances. FIND THE ORBIT represents a turning point in their career, showcasing their growth as individuals and as a team. With a strong foundation of domestic and international success, CRAVITY is poised to reach even greater heights as they embark on this new
chapter.

Check out the video for "Now or Never" right HERE.

American Modern Heavy Metal band A Stāte øf Mīnd released his new single "Dead". The release was recorded at "Global Destruction Studios" by Danny Hardt, and mixed/mastered by J.P. Braddock. This track is a part of the upcoming 6 track EP Titled "Sanity Of Madness" to be released in March of 2025 on "Self Made Records LLC", "Earache Records" will do digital distribution and "GlobMetal Promotions" will do the promo campaign.

Check out the single linked below:

https://open.spotify.com/album/2aDTqJBcEdrRxmdu03EOIL

https://music.apple.com/il/album/dead-single/1763833129

A Stāte øf Mīnd was formed in 1994 in Texas, USA when four friends united with a shared passion for music. On the very first day of their practice, they composed their inaugural original track, "Wardance," setting the stage for their creative journey. Drawing inspiration from legendary figures in hard rock and metal, such as Dio, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Queensryche, the band chose the name State of Mind to encapsulate the essence of music as a reflection of emotional states and experiences.

Slow Burning Car have released a new video of the track titled "Clouds". Check it HERE.

Mexican Progressive Death Metal band ViseriA released their new single "En Tierra de Tiza". The release was recorded in the band's home studio, and mixed/mastered in "Estudio Diez Seis Uno" by Roberto Salgado.

Check out the new single linked below:

https://open.spotify.com/album/6BIjJILYO1iMu1XU69EjsA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XsPc-Ey5iI

ViseriA is a Death Metal band from Tizapán el Alto, Jalisco, Mexico, founded in 2011. Known for their original compositions, they aim to be one of Mexico's top bands and achieve global recognition through innovative performances. The current lineup includes Heriberto Alatorre (guitar/vocals), Isaac Pérez (bass/vocals), and Jesús Cárdenas (drums). They’ve shared stages with notable bands and released three singles from their 10-track album: "Vestiges of an Extinct Culture", "The Dark Sacrilegious" and "En Tierra de Tiza". ViseriA combines powerful music with meaningful themes.

Having recently returned home from a dream come true tour, CLAUSTROFOBIA share a new music video filled with the intensity and performance of their live show. “Unleeched” is the title track off the Brazilian export’s latest album and watch it now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tTHAu5Pbz4.

"Our tour with Sepultura has significantly increased our fan base. It was a golden opportunity to show a larger number of people the true essence of Claustrofobia. We are a live band, we shed our blood on stage, we always give our best every night as if it was the last show of our lives and anyone who attended the shows witnessed that,” declares singer/guitarist Marcus D’Angelo.

“The song ‘Unleeched’ was always one of the highlights of the set. So we decided to choose this song to convey our trademark -- which is to crush everything bad in our paths without any precedent. I believe we managed to show everyone this energy very well."

Groove metalheads HOLE IN THE FRAME have released three albums, with them hard at work upon what will be their fourth album expected soon! The band discusses time together, music, playing as much as possible, touring too!

1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

HOLE IN THE FRAME is an Italian band made up in Molise in 2013, aiming of creating music free of
any kind of traditional label, still full of feelings and emotions, misery and rejection for the modern
system, which appears to be plastic and a creature of habit, unable to host pure and sincere thoughts.
We were born in a little reality of the South of Italy to scream aur regret to the contemporary system.

2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?

“Hole in the Frame” is a hole in nowadays system, an escape for everyone. An explanation that is
mirrored by the hard and distorted sound, with dark and full-bodied atmosphere, that create a musical
genre that could be called Crossover Groove Metal, with the alternation of rhytmic and redundant parts,
light and melodic arpeggios, and fast aggressive melodies, linked to social nature lyrics.

3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?

The band is based in Molise, a little region of the south of Italy. But, for work reason we live in different
countries. In our region there was a lot of bands, but now I can’t recommend no one. Our music scene in
our town is dying as well as in the rest of Italy! But we never give up because our passion is stronger than
music business. There was a time, when we were teenagers, where the music was everywhere. We had the
opportunity to grow up in an exciting time, at the end of 90’s; in this period there was a lot of artistic situations and more chances to perform.

Hole in the Frame LINE UP
Dan Philip Grano: Lead singer
Steve Verrengia: Guitar
Gialcu Verga (The Prof.): Lead Guitar
Nick Willy Morena: Bass guitar

The research of our Drummer in progress, but we are nearly there. Waiting for surprises!

4. How would you describe your style?

We like to define our style like a Crossover Groove Metal or 90’s Metal Music.

5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?

We got a long history of releases. Since 2015, we released 3 Albums plus on “live session”. The first of
this one is not available on Spotify and is not on sale. That was a choice of the band for stylistic reasons.
Since we started working with “Volcano Records”, in 2022, we reached a lot of results, and we want to
continue this partnership. We move all together! We released two albums with this label and we are proud
of this.

6. Do you have any new music in the works?

We’re working on the 4th official album.

7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?

We’d like to plan our next tour in Japan, and we want to play as much as possible. We are trying also to
plan one tour in Balkan counties.

8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?

We want to make history! We want to establish professionally.

9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

On Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube. And we are activating our shop online. Stay with us for more news!

10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time? 

We are Hole in the Frame! We are a punch in your face! We are true and we are in pursuit of truth!
We are out of the system and mind patterns! Fight for your freedom and do not conform.

Post punk band THE HAPTICS was formed only a few years ago, but since then their debut album has been released, with an all new album in the works! Plans upon this next album is what is set in stone for now, but show playing is not forgotten, but set for this next year for certain! The band talks of formation, how they got their name, music of course, and much else all below.

1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

The Haptics formed in 2022, in Vancouver when 4 musicians came together over a mutual love of post-punk music. In short, we met on craigslist musicians section, and started jamming together. It felt right and we formed the Haptics. More recently Mike joined the band after the original bass player left to pursue other passions. And Alexis joined us on drums recently as well.

2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?

The name signifies a focus on sensory experiences. Jin was kicking it around as a name, and it felt right

3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?

We are based out of Vancouver, BC. There is a good scene here with a variety of bands and styles. We recently played with a band called “The Hausplants” that were fantastic. But there is a bunch of bands around worth checking out, Slightest Clue, Farhaven are a few.

4. How would you describe your style?

We would, I think, consider ourselves a post punk band. But we blend a lot of different (but similar) styles together. Post rock, shoegaze, post grunge, and just general noise rock.

5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?

We released our first album in 2022 “Second Best”. Then followed that up with an EP in 2023 “Zero Gravity”. And now this year 2024, we’ve released the first two singles for our second album due to come out late spring 2025

6. Do you have any new music in the works?

Ya the new album is a work in progress. “Vows” The 1st single was out Oct 1st, and “Biodome” The 2nd single is out now!

7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?

We’re taking some downtime right now to work on the album but are looking forward to getting out and playing as much as possible in the new year. Look for us in a venue near you! And we love to hear from our fans about where they’d like to see us.

8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?

Just keep on playing as much as we can. Keep on having fun together as a band. Keep on doing it and stay inspired by the art.

9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

Ya check us out on all the streaming services. And at our site thehaptics.ca also @the.haptics we have links for merch off of both, and links to the music of course

10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?

We want the music to trigger emotion and maybe in some way remind you of those deep dark feelings from the past. Music can help you access those memories and in a way help process the emotion

 Metal go getters APPARITIONAL formed the band only a year ago! Releasing some songs, with newer music in the works, the band has had the chance to play live, with further plans on playing more and releasing more music! The band got together to discuss their history, music, and plans!

1. Please introduce yourselves and tell me what you do in the band?

I’m Rik and I play guitar and sing in Apparitional, the other core member Rikk (with 2 k’s) plays drums and lets me know if my ideas are good or not.  He also handles all of the social media and communications that if left up to me would fall into a terrible state of neglect.  We also have 2 other members who make up the live line up of Apparitional, Matt (guitar) and Brittany (bass) who have been a big part of the project lately.

2. Can you give us a brief history of your band?

Rikk and I formed Apparitional about a year ago.  We were kicking around the idea of starting a new project that would be a departure from the sound of the current Horror Punk bands we were in (the Writhers & the Returners) while still retaining the feel and the dark aesthetics.  We’re both big fans of Type O Negative and I had just turned Rikk on to the band Poisonblack which had a lot to do with the direction we eventually took.  I started demoing some songs that eventually took shape into our first single “Unhallowed” and the rest of the songs from our live set.

3. Where did the idea for the band's name Apparitional come from and does it have a meaning to it?

We were back and forth on different names that we felt encompassed the feeling of the band, none of which I can remember now, but Apparitional seemed to fit the stark and gloomy atmosphere we were going for.  It embodies the feeling of the modern era and the disconnection and isolation it brings.   

4. To those who may not know what you sound like, describe the type of music you create?

That is a tough one, usually you start a band with something very specific in mind of what you are trying to sound like, then a ways down the road you realize that you sound completely different.  Luckily we have had enough feedback from people now to have an objective idea of how we are perceived, which is gothic doom with a dash of metallic hardcore that has drawn comparisons to Paradise Lost, Life of Agony, and Twitching Tongues.

5. Who would be some of your musical influences and why are they as such?

As I mentioned before, Rikk and I are both fans of Type O Negative, which we draw a lot of influence from but in writing I pull from a range of different stuff.  I have been collecting records for a long time now and my collection has grown large and diverse and sometimes when I am writing I will pick one at random, listen to it and play around with ideas that listening to that album brings up.  Probably though the biggest influences in my guitar playing would be Tommy Victor (Prong), Rhoads / Jake E. Lee / Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne), and probably Page Hamilton (Helmet).  Vocally there are many vocalists that I admire that have contributed and influenced my style: Peter Steele (Type O Negative), Christopher Hall (Stabbing Westward / The Dreaming), Mikko Heikkila (Sinamore / Dawn of Solace), Ville Laihiala (Poisonblack / Sentenced), JP Leppaluoto (Poisonblack / Charon), Glenn Danzig, Gary Numan, Layne Staley, and Ozzy

Rikk: my biggest influences vary from many musical places. Bands like From Autumn to Ashes, AFI, Linkin Park, and HIM are among my favorite acts generally, but I also listen to a lot of Latin, pop and hip hop for percussive ideas.

6. What about the songs, who is the one to contribute to the writing and what sort of topics do they cover?

Usually I will come up with a bunch of ideas, demo them and send them to Rikk so see what he is the most excited about working on.  So far the songs we have written deal with loss, disconnection, isolation, embitterment, and for me a plea to the Gods to not be crushed under the weight of these feelings.

Rikk: I really appreciate the way we have been working on these ideas - 1k will send me a demo and I’ll gush over how cool it sounds and work on learning the scratch drums he wrote for the song then I’ll obsess over the song until it morphs into something I’m even more excited over. For example our latest addition to the set “This Fading Light” has been such and exciting trial and error writing drums for the verse and some of the fills.

7. Speaking of songs, you have a single called "Unhallowed" tell me about it?

Unhallowed was the first song we wrote as a band, I feel like sonically it is a good embodiment of the sound we are going for, heavy and gothic.  Thematically it deals with loss and can be viewed in two ways, the physical loss of someone you love either through death or the ending of a relationship and it is fine if people interpret it and connect to it in that way, though to me it was written for the spiritual loss I have felt, a darkening of the soul, and the isolation it creates.

8. Does the band have any other newer music in the works?

Yes, currently we are wrapping up the recording of “Burn” by the Cure which will hopefully be streaming in about a month.  Also we are finalizing 3 more songs that we have been playing live: “The Serpent's Coil” which has a sludgy feel to it, “This Fading Light” that has a more straightforward gothic metal feel to it like Paradise Lost or Katatonia, and ”Dark Night On The Moors” which is a song for the Goddess Hekate.

9. How about playing shows, touring, tell us about your next shows and why we should be there?

The next show we have coming up is with Vampires Everywhere, Priest and Julien K at Brick By Brick in San Diego on January 24th, other than that I am trying to put together a live online ritual show to fall on one of the upcoming pagan calendar days possibly the Solstice or Imbolc.  Each show will be a different experience, the energy from a live performance at a great venue alongside high performing bands is a good reason to go out, conversely, the online show will hopefully connect people outside of the local area and be a more intimate affair.

10. Having come across your band on social media with TikTok, what do you think of that format, and social media in general, is it a good thing or bad thing?

Rikk would be better to answer this as he deals more with the social media aspect of the band.  In some cases social media is another performance stage or medium to make an artistic statement, but it is short form and wedges your offering in a juxtaposed, non sequitur stream of endless content.  The upside I suppose is the ability to reach more people, demonstrably, as you mentioned finding us via Tik Tok.  But like it or not, currently it is the reality of things and can’t be ignored or pushed aside.

Rikk: I have a love/hate relationship with social media. I really enjoyed using it for promotion and networking pre-pandemic but I feel like lately it has changed to become a Herculean task. That’s why I really appreciate interview pages such as this for showcasing small acts like us, so thank you very much for that.

11. What else does the band have planned for this next year?

For next year I would like to work on songs individually and release them as singles, see the response and what resonates with people and craft the next song accordingly.  Once we have accumulated enough songs that have a consistent cohesion we will most likely put out a physical Vinyl and CD.  Other than that, I am keeping an open mind about the next steps, shows, and new mediums to share our music and art.

12. Would you like to say or add on anything else?

Thank you for taking interest in us and for those of you to took the time to read this, hopefully we will meet all of you in person on tour or online, until then, I wish all of you enough light and fire to burn through the dark days.