The Beat by Baby and the Beats is like adrenaline rush, instantaneous and physical, when your chest is pounded by your heartbeat when something seems suddenly honest. It's alive in the truest sense. Here, the Belgian band extends metal to its extremes as the scientific concepts are wove into pure emotive exhalation and a sound that is both savage and meticulous, a sound that is anarchy and yet never reckless.
Below all, one can hear a quiet, rumbling bed of synths simmering in the tension underground, impatient and humming. Most importantly, there is the scratching and cracking of distorted guitar lines, as bright as sparks struck off rock. The guitar played by Stefano is in the middle of everything. His solos seem like an emotional point of pressure, the places of technique and affect come into juncture. Nothing is excessive. Each of the phrases is deliberate and seems that the guitar is talking to consult, not demonstrating.
The music actually explodes as Patrick and the vocals of Cassandra interchange. They do not merge, but are colliding and circling around, which reminds the natural rhythms that the song is pursuing. The voice of Patrick is grounded and anchored under the weight of the guitar and the sounding of Cassandra is over it and contrasting, tense, and colourful.
There is a thin line between the production control and violence. The snarling guitars, the heavy-shadowed synths and the raw and unpolished vocals remain so. All this contributes to the main theme: that metal is a mirror of the inner life rhythms - heartbeats, cycles, the same restless rhythm. The Beat is constructed to be shared, gospeled and lived in. It is ironic yet sincere, profound and draws you back and back. Living in a world where music tends to be drawn into the background, The Beat tells us of the beat of life we all have.
