Baddiecore are bands that usually play heavy music but have added so much pop elements into that heavy music that it attracts a mainstream audience, classic examples currently in the West are Bad Omens, Sleep Token and Spiritbox.
Gimme your hot takes on what japanese bands could fall into it
(Remember when you start slapping out VK bands, that those bands attract mainstream audience, so people from outside the scene, that wont care or get into it because of that one band)
Also I love this topic. Reminds me of the discourse around mini-van rock. Turn of the century rock music your mom thinks is cool like Matchbox Twenty and Barenaked Ladies.
Oddly enough, this is a bit of a tough one because, by definition, metalcore (loosely) with pop music crossover (up for debate) and sex-appeal (epitome of āthirst-trapā) is pretty much a large chunk of vkās shtick āminus the normie appeal. Granted, both points tend to solidly apply when bandās go mainstream, since they had to have visual and sonic appeal to break that barrier in the first place. Iām thinking like how Laruku appeals with their frontman, Hyde. Or like Gackt, etc.
Though, to your point (I think), itās not like most people whoāve heard SID, Nightmare, Hyde, or any anison vk band gets dragged into the rest of the vk scene or identifies as part of such. Is that part of what makes āBaddiecoreā? Bringing outsiders into the fray?
If we tone down āthrist-trapā, artists and bandmembers who are also considered āidolsā in Japan, I guess, follow that definition?
I think Babymetal could be considered one of them. Maybe Zigzagā¦
Iām really finding it more of a symptom of an evolving industry than an identifiable āgenreā. Sex appeal is subjective. Relegating bands into āBaddiecoreā almost comes off gate-keepy and it seems to me, how the article describes it, more like an advertising strategy.
** Now iām thinking of the term āButt-Rockā thatās heavy-metal for radio-play. Is this just āSexy Butt-Rockāā¦ Thatās quite the term lmao.
Babymetal have enough men who are thirsty for them too (if that is good or creepy is another thing)
Paledusk, Hanabie, Wagamama Rakia are baddiecore
Its actually the bands that do the exact opposite, a lot of the western bands are gateway bands towards metal, so ZigZag or Babymetal would fit actually perfect into it.
I was hyper fixated on the āBaddieā part of the term. My disappoint is immeasurable when looking at the examples. I legit was expecting actual baddies playing metal.
I donāt think the OP is right though in that the band is putting in pop elements, from that loudwire article it looks like just a label for bands with too many thirsty fans driving the fan base. In which case, this pretty much fits all of VK lmao. There are barely any bands where the majority are men.
Which OP? I am sorry maybe my screenshots were confusing maybe. the one who coined the term is Craig Reynolds (on the reddit screenshot he is reynlord) and he is drummer from the band Stray From the Path.
I thought that in the beginning too, but is all VK accessible?
A lot of VK bands also use heavy imagery, gore and that stuff, and that makes them less accessible again, which is basically the opposite effect than what those baddiecore bands do, i would say.
need some bleach for the eyes??
others are trying to call it cum metal
This part āmetalcore with enough pop music crossover and sex appeal that normie hot people likeā This doesnāt necessarily mean the artist is purposely trying to appeal to a popular audience.
Per the video, as well, it is just music that blew up and got popular with like tik-tok with specific types of girls. (Not ones I would consider baddies personally as they look hella alt-rock).
I mean slipknot has heavy imagery too and so is Sleep Token. Metalcore in general is unaccessible by a majority of people, it just sounds loud to them. If sex appeal is a major thing with how the music sounds for a tik-tok video, then VK has plenty of it. Maybe just not enough baddies in Japan making tik-tok videos lol IDK
