Unless you've been living under a musical rock this last year or so, you've probably seen the name Babymetal at least once. I've searched the forums and found that a few of you know of this Japan sensation.
For those that haven't, I'll sum up: Imagine J-pop, Japan Idol culture, and insanely talented metal/rock/industrial musicians all smushed into a corporate project. It's a mix that shouldn't work. But like all genre breaking trialblazers, it has. To huge, sold out arena shows both in Japan and more recently, in America.
Skipping history, the fact that it's front members are young teenage girls who sing and do choreographed dance to death metal beats, and arguments of corporate fabrication ('cause really... there's plenty of argument about this already) I'll get to the connection between this forum and them.
This song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02uq_GQAly0It's from their second album that just released this last week. Much like their previous album, there is a huge range of rock/metal sub genres represented, and no one specific flavor of anything provided it involves drums, bass, and guitar as the basic instruments.
When I heard this track, I instantly knew who it was a nod to. Everything from the synchronicity of the keyboard and guitar, some of the phrasing of the riffs... and if you're STILL not with me that it's a specific nod to Dream Theater... there's a passage that mimics Jordan's re-occurring use of old timey solo ragtime piano at 2:25.
In fact, the whole instrumental passage from 2:00 on sounds like an omage to DT's Stylings. To me, even the drums sound engineered to echo MP's drum sound of IAW and Awake.
As far as the project as a whole goes, I've been alright with Babymetal since I discovered it a couple years ago. The musical writing is spot on, the ability of the players is top notch, and I'm a sucker for cute things. It's different, refreshing, and something that isn't the standard norm cranked out by the industry these days. The fact that the producers did a massive nod to DT on this album makes it all the more fun.