Badge – Supernova

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Slow paced songs – the ballads or power ballads – are really something controvertial into Metal music community. Though the thematic isn’t always related to love and relationships as they may be of whatever the band would like to give an emphasis, many metalheads have biases against them. On the other hand, Metal power ballads are immensaly loved by other genres fans. It is a fact that many Metal bands reached larger audiences using them as a support. Some made a very well use of them, others not that much and got lost by the truckload of dollars that they pocketed. Shame, shame, shame.

Okay, that said, I would like to right away point out two ballads in this Badge “Supernova” that called the eye due to the musical competence the band shows. Yeah, my child of the night, slow themes are also used to show the band’s technical prowness. They are “Dogs Of War” and “Finding My Way.” The first doesn’t have a common thematic for ballads, if you ask me, but it works fine to express the band’s position against war and all related. It’s leading strumming works nicely giving the song a tense atmosphere. The second is more introspective and deals with existencial themes that are extremely common on our everyday life. Show of hands who hasn’t ever fellt lonely and absolutely useless?

“Supernova” stands for a number of traditions into Metal music. It sounds a little low-fy, but I guess that’s the real charm of it and many of their peers. Another highlight to the opening track “Bizzard” and its solid and heavy guitar riffing emulating a wall of sound. The chorus of “Valkyrie” is really amazing as well. I can’t help it saying it enough, but it is amazing to see that the classic sonancy of Metal is alive and well and performed for such talented bands that learned pretty the lessons from the masters. A fun fact is that Badge sound as some obscure, or not that well-known, bands of the 1980s as Tysondog and Chariot – there is a lot of Chariot here, guys, if you ask me. By the way, “Rock Chicks” pays a homage to the real valuable women from Metal. You deserve it, girls!

Badge “Supernova” was released on April 29th via Badge Records UK.

Track Listing:

  1. Blizzard
  2. You Mean Nothing
  3. See Me Gone
  4. Brotherhood
  5. Valkyrie
  6. Supernova
  7. Rock Chics
  8. Cry in the Night
  9. Dogs of War
  10. Black Heart Soul
  11. Finding My Way

Watch “Rock Chics” official video here:

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