Country: Japan
Genre: Progressive metal, experimental
Single/video: 追憶のナスカ
Director: Takuto Yamamori
Director of photography: Tom W Carey
Label: Metal Blade
Release date: June 22, 2025
Is it possible for death metal, math metal, progressive metal, industrial metal, grind and idol pop to blend seamlessly with many other genres? Ask Broken By The Scream and their fans in Japan. When their formation was announced in 2016 their radical approach to metal set off widespread recognition across the country, garnering attention from festivals like Wacken and Reload, as well as Brian Slagel of Metal Blade Records, who recently signed them to his label.
I was recently watching some old coverage of Japanese metal that mentioned rules don’t apply when it comes to writing in the most unconventional ways. Since I started exploring any Japanese metal I could find, from Sigh to other bands, this has been one of the most unconventional bands I’ve encountered, even more so than the experimental jazz/metal fusion bands I’ve been exposed to over the past year.
As this track starts, you might anticipate a typical three to four-minute single in the strict vein of power metal, metalcore or melodic death, but there's much more to this. Broken By The Scream incorporates enough experimentation to push it up to fourteen and a half minutes. And before you realize it, the track veers into directions that are as far removed from the standard as you can get.
That coverage of Japanese metal included a remark that bands there experiment in ways that could never be tried in the States. While I see the point made, I think Sigh has gained enough attention with American audiences, similarly to those jazz/metal fusion bands I mentioned earlier. Still, this song is so left field and unpredictable it would seem Metal Blade is taking a huge chance by helping to introduce the band to metal fans on this side of the ocean.
Whether they’ll get widespread recognition still remains to be seen, but one Youtube podcaster recently made a loose comparison to Dream Theater and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, so fans of death metal and prog death metal, especially those who appreciate complex songwriting involving multiple guitar and bass strings, may find something of value in their music.
It’s surreal to watch four women, who are both half idol group members and half theatrical performers, switch their vocals between death metal, black metal, and bubblegum pop, while the musicians behind them deliver backing that ranges from progressive death metal to industrial, and ventures into even more experimental territory with goth and electronic music. But they manage to make it work.
The band's dedication to making it work pays off as they elaborate on already intricate arrangements by incorporating elements of jazz, musical theater, film soundtracks, classical, and even hints of disco and opera. All these elements are introduced at the most inopportune moments, causing the song to shatter expectations of both traditional and experimental metal. It establishes its own boundaries and pushes them as far as the band desires to push them. –Dave Wolff
Lineup:
Tsubaki Nanaougi: Vocals
Shizuku Mikogami: Vocals
Io Nozukidaira: Vocals
Yayoi Takayashiki: Vocals
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