HER NAME IN BLOOD's debut major album comes out great. It will surely attract a large following from wider fields. There were signs of that. "Last Day" and "Down," two songs from the previous mini-album, saw Ikepy (lead singer) demonstrating his jaunty vocal that favoured singing over shouting. As the Tokyo-based band's instrumentation got leaner, their song style was charged with grandeur. Following the same path, "BAKEMONO (meaning Monster)" further pushes the envelope of the band. The melodic machismo of "All This Pain" represents their ultimate aesthetic, leaving you fist-pumping. Elsewhere, there are intriguing moments shot through with sly tricks like the oriental mid-tempo of "Cut It Out" and "Psychopath," whose intro evokes an amusement park. Taking on the depth of hard rock, the edge of slash metal and the sturdiness of metal core, the songs are distilled into catchy joyous productions you can sing along and dance to in equal measure. It's also notable that mixing engineer Tom Lord-Alge, who was behind Korn's "Life Is Peachy," makes the album sound clear and tremendous.