EP REVIEW: METALICIOUS – Scene Queen

SCENE QUEEN has spent the last half-decade carving out a very unique niche that belongs to nobody else. Hannah Collins‘ musical persona exists at a peculiar intersection of pop diva, ferocious metalhead, and unfiltered spoken-word poet, and her new EP METALICIOUS doubles down on all the elements that made her the ‘bimbocore’ spokesperson, while pushing her voice into sharper, nastier places. At seven tracks, it’s a brisk, breathless listen that doesn’t overstay its welcome in your brain and knows precisely what it wants to be: a snapshot of an artist in transition, not a definitive thesis of her best and brightest ideas.

Pink Flip Phone kicks the door in with two minutes of frenetic, shout-along energy, with Collins’ longstanding Y2K obsession dialled up to the max. The riffing is tight, the hook is immediate, and the chanting repetition is deliberate and designed to stick. The only real snag is the guitar tone during the breakdown, which tips into shrill territory and threatens to derail the momentum. It doesn’t, quite, but it’s a wobble in an otherwise assured opening.

Manicure follows with a playful trap-inflected groove and a slower, slinkier build. Lyrically, it’s trademark SCENE QUEEN with playful, cutting jabs at an ex-partner, unbothered by subtlety and niceties. A sliver of her evolution starts to show, with the song’s breakdown landing with sharp force and Collins‘ screams showing noticeable growth in control and range. That being said, the chorus singing feels slightly at odds with the rest of the track, and somewhat rough around the edges on an otherwise very polished EP. This won’t be the song people revisit most, but it will absolutely detonate in a live setting.

Shopaholic stretches past the two-minute mark (a rarity within SCENE QUEEN’s discography) and offers the closest we will ever get to a slow-burning ballad from the scene’s sardonic queen. It’s melodic style teeters on melancholic, with your classic ‘emo’ undertones threading through the revenge-fuelled narrative. Whilst it’s an interesting change of gear, it lacks the immediacy that some of METALICIOUS‘ best moments have, making it a pleasant diversion, but not a memorable one.

Then comes Drop Dead Gorgeous (feat. TX2) , which, to the surprise of many, feels illegal to be as catchy as it is. SCENE QUEEN has an uncanny skill at producing excellent tracks when collaborating with other artists, and many might be constrained to admit it, but the track does flow smoothly and cleanly. This pairing is unexpected, but the two voices do mesh well sweetly in a duet. There is a great moshability to the refrain and that chorus is definitely built for a pit. Despite not being the classically ‘heaviest’ in a metal context, it ends up being one of the strongest songs on METALICIOUS, even if the abrupt ending leaves it feeling slightly unfinished.

Following on the heels of the previous track, the EP hits its high with Tracksuit. It’s absolutely a standout and one of the few songs to leave a mark when the hub-bub of the release dies down. It has all the good elements: it’s fun, varied sonically, and exudes confidence, with Collins switching between her newly debuted scream vocals, classic spoken-word cadences, and softer melodic passages with ease. The subject matter is dark, but the execution is anything but; it’s a song that makes you move and groove even as it seethes with anger. This is an excellent example of the duality that makes a classic SCENE QUEEN song, and the sound of an artist fully in command of the tools at her disposal.

A narrative that pops up throughout METALCIOUS is that of a sadder, slightly bitter, scorned femme who needs to speak her mind, but this next track absolutely 180’s that. T!ts Out At Brunch is pure, unadulterated chaos. Combining double kick drums, a breakneck tempo, and an absurd hook results in a holler-worthy anthem that leaves the listener grinning and nodding their head to the beat. Every line feels like a hitter, not one to shy away from explicitly jabbing at a trope she hates, Collins knew exactly what she was doing with the line about hating the NFL but loving an alcoholic beverage. This is SCENE QUEEN at her most ridiculous and her most effective.

Closing with the eponymous title track, METALICIOUS (feat. LEFT TO SUFFER), was the right call. By miles, it’s the heaviest sound on the EP, and the deathcore influence from Taylor Barber completely upends the track’s club-ready groove before snapping back into it. The guitar work is razor-sharp and neatly accompanies the head-bang worthy breakdown; the whole thing feels like the natural endpoint of Collins‘ experiments on the EP. It’s the obvious lead single for a reason, and hearing her tackle Barber‘s low-and-high vocal acrobatics live will be a genuine test of her expanding skill set that she’s teased so far.

Let’s be honest here, METALICIOUS is not a record built for depth. It’s built for impact. It’s quick, sharp, and gone before you’ve had time to catch your breath. But, that is the beauty of any SCENE QUEEN record: it takes sometimes difficult topics like heartbreak and resentment and parcels it up with a metalcore riff and a pink satin ribbon. There are no outright weak tracks here, and the production is consistently strong, but only a handful of songs will linger in the Internet’s memory alongside her best work. It is an EP that serves its purpose: a bridge between eras, a flex of new vocal muscles, and a reminder that SCENE QUEEN remains one of the most singular outspoken voices in alternative music. This is not a reinvention, but a promising sign of where she might go next.

Rating: 7/10

METALICIOUS is out now via Hopeless Records. 

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