EP Review: HANABIE. – Bucchigiri Tokyo (Sony Music)

Japanese quartet HANABIE. are set to bring their new EP ‘Bucchigiri Tokyo’ to life this December 4th, via Sony Music.

If you’re the type of person who gnashes your teeth at the thought of a band like HANABIE. becoming one of the biggest things in metal, well, I’ve got news for you. It’s happening whether you like it or not and for good reason. The four-piece might look cute and friendly but misjudge them and they’ll have your throat out.

It’s been a great year for the band. A year that includes playing Download Festival 2024, selling out London’s Underworld venue on their UK debut UK headline show, wracking up an eye-watering number of streams, and now they cap it off with an EP that is as savage as it is infectious. Showcasing a level of pop-infused bubble-gum antics that shares commonality with the likes of BABYMETAL but is focused on speed and manic heaviness for the most part.

It’s the choruses that do it though. You can go wild to the guttural vocals and garish riffs, and then with a banging boom, it’s time for a chorus that will have most bouncing up and down and singing along loudly. There’s not a single track that lacks a hook, that doesn’t have a moment where you’re shouting loudly with glee and doesn’t showcase a band destined to be one of the biggest in the world if they carry on this way.

Doubt this band at your own peril, they’re proving everyone wrong, and there’s no excuse to not check them out when they’re delivering such a digestible listen as this. Six tracks, six slices of innovate intensity, and six tracks that every head banger can enjoy.

HANABIE. – Bucchigiri Tokyo Track Listing:

1. Bucchigiri Tokyo
2. Metamorphose
3. OTAKU Lovely Densetsu
4. GAMBLER
5. Ito Okashi My Type
6. Bonus Guilty Time

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