For a band that has been around since 1996, Barbatos have changed very little. Their music is just as raw, poorly recorded, aggressive and laden with sexual innuendo as ever. The band has also continued to use broken English as their chosen vehicle with which to spread their message. Sure, their earlier music was more heavily rooted in black metal and thrash but the idea is the same: rock ‘n’ roll, and metal, will never, ever die. With their new album, Straight Metal War, Barbatos hone in on that rock aspect, and deliver a fun album to be enjoyed tongue-in-cheek with a few friends — and a few beers.
It’s been nearly 10 years since the last Barbatos full-length, Let’s Fucking Die! But thankfully, the gap hasn’t hindered the band at all; their sound is still raw, lewd and offensive as all hell. Sure, song titles may have changed from things like “Dick is Big” to the tamer, less blunt “Rocking Metal Sluts” and “Fly to the Sexual World,” but the message and energy is still the same.
Despite the recording quality, the guitar work is quite advanced. Mastermind Yasayuki Suzuki’s soloing is not even entirely based in the 12-bar traditional blues scale; there’s some distinct modular work occurring throughout that shows a musician very adept at his craft and able to play across genres with ease. Whether playing clean, with reverb or an envelope pedal, it all ends up really shining on what is otherwise a purposefully sloppy garage recording.
Japenese bands have a very special way of paying homage to American music. Bands such as Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, Guitar Wolf and Teengenerate all trace their musical roots to Elvis, but have had the advantage of watching American music develop from across the vast ocean. The Japanese bands have highlighted the sexuality that was generally implied, or at least entendre, in American rock and taken it to a level of absurdity — allowing Americans to see themselves as the rest of the world sees them. And the result is not always pretty. But that is reason enough to take the music with a grain of salt and at least enjoy the visualization provided by Barbatos.
Influences from American rock of the 1950’s and 1960’s predominate, with bluesy guitar solos prevalent across every single song. The vocal styling is something of a mix between Joey Ramone and 1950’s Japenese crooner Kyu Sakamoto. “Goodbye High School Girls” feels like a lost Ramones classic, while “Seventeen” sounds like Queen doing their best Chuck Berry impersonation. Further, in a linguistic regression, Japanese predominates the verses while intentionally broken English predominates the chorus.
As a result, we get an almost cartoon-like take on American rock ‘n’ roll. But the fact remains that the album itself is good. In fact, it’s very good.
-Manny-O-War
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