The world has been ruled for many years by the big power “Idols” – the media, politics, the economy, all controlled by the Idols. Any music other than the Idols’ songs were seen as harmful, including heavy metal. Around the world, metalheads prayed for the resurrection of their beloved music. Eventually those prayers reached the ears of the Fox God, who is in charge of the metal world. The Fox God recruited three girls and named them SU-METAL, YUIMETAL and MOAMETAL. They became BABYMETAL – prophets of the Fox God and leaders of the Metal Resistance, dedicated to spreading their unique blend of heavy metal and Kawaii around the world and teaching a generation of music lovers about the magic of metal. Formed in Japan in 2010, BABYMETAL have grown from the seeds sown by band overseer KOBAMETAL and evolved steadily into one of the most powerful musical phenomena in the world today. Backed and supported by some of the fi nest metal musicians their native land has to offer, SU-METAL, YUIMETAL and MOAMETAL began their mission to unify the world through Heavy Metal. BABYMETAL’s success in their native country Japan led to Top 10 singles in the Oricon chart in Japan, performances at several major festivals in Japan, including Summer Sonic 2013 and two consecutive sold out nights at Tokyo’s legendary Budokan venue in March 2014, in front of 20,000 people. Eventually, BABYMETAL’s reputation had crossed the globe and was beginning to make waves in Europe and America too. With video clips with over 25 million views, the band became a sudden and huge internet phenomenon, leaving pop and metal fans around the world in no doubt about the magic and might of this new musical force. BABYMETAL made their first world tour, traversing continents to perform at the celebrated Sonisphere festival in Knebworth, England (and won over a vast field of 65,000 diehard metalheads in the process), were invited by pop icon Lady Gaga to support her on her prestigious ArtRave: The Artpop Ball tour in the US, and played various sold out shows throughout Europe and in New York. Not to mention the public approval of such rock icons as Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett and Guns N’ Roses legend Slash who sang the band’s praises during a live radio interview, BABYMETAL entered 2015 as the hottest new band on planet Earth. BABYMETAL will definitely become one of the biggest acts of the 21st century. Irresistible, unstoppable and destined for greatness, BABYMETAL are metal’s saviours.
J**R
Babymetal!!!
In my musical journey, my recent appetite has taken me to the Far East, to the land of the rising sun, where a surprising scene is emerging, and leading it is a band called Babymetal.The surprising fusion of genres that couldn’t be further on the music spectrum, Babymetal is a mashup of Death metal, pop idol music, and catchy techno beats. Three teenage girls, backed by a tight killer metal band, deliver an experience that leaves you dumbfounded at first, a little scared and questioning everything you thought you knew about the industry.The brainchild of a whacky Japanese music producer, Babymetal is a collaboration of talents. The musicians are exceptional, perfectly executing a wide range of styles and techniques of the metal genres. Loaded with crushing riffs, death-growls, heavy beats, even some sweet shredding the debut’s repertoire never gets predictable. More than that, the girls who front the band effortlessly apply their vocals over the range of styles adding their unlimited energy to an otherwise tired genre. The production on this album is solid, and demands you turn it to eleven.The album is full of surprises, whenever there’s a break in the song you’re never quite sure which way Babymetal is going to take you; whether you’re going to be hit by a fireball of shred, cheesy pop or some clubber’s techpop beat, and it’s that unpredictability that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Just listen to the song ‘line!’ to experience this, only be careful if you’re in public: When driving to the crunchy riffs I often found myself winding my window down to torment the neighbourhood, only to wind it back up again seconds later embarrassed by the sudden U-turn to soft pop from my car. In the Iraq war of 2004, a mix of heavy metal and songs from children's TV shows were used to torture Iraqi POWs, I believe it would have sounded something like this. But still, there’s a lot to like about this album –cheesy parts included- and a lot to be discovered. It was a delight to find the speed shredders Herman Li and Sam Totman of Dragonforce fame lend their writing skills and burn their axes on an epic bonus track ‘Road to Resistance’.Although plain out rejected by some in the metal community, Babymetal is building a strong following and can no longer be ignored or passed off as a gimmick. The metalheads haven’t yet made its mind up about whether this style has a place in the west but personally, whether you like it or not, I think this is as exciting and fresh as metal has been in years.- James
K**L
The Metal Stars Approve!
Wow, i am somewhat late to the party with this band but after yet another Metal Hammer post i decided to give it a bash and it was well worth the cash. Each song is pretty bonkers in its own right, but thankfully it does not get tiring its with bizarre turns in several of the songs including a strange hiphop section into a balls out breakdown in 'Line!' to almost surf rock calmness in the song 'Song 4' (complete with a comedic 'boing!' noise before caving your face in again). There are plenty of more focused metal songs though, from the now painful catchyness of 'Gimmie Chocolate!' and a track co-wrote with Dragonforce at the end of the album ('Road of Resistance').My only real gripe are the overly 'cutesy' backing vocals. The main singer definitely has a good set of pipes on her and cuts through very well but the other singers sound overly digital to sound childish and it personally holds some of the tracks back a bit. Its not even a fault of the other two girls as on the track 'Onedari Daisakusen', they in fact handle the main vocals and it's one of my favorite tracks on the album (with a tasty early Linkin Park/ Limp Bizkit' kind of vibe). This could be a common staple in Japanese pop music but i haven't researched into it.Overall just go for it. Typically if your a fan of metal there's a little of everything on here to enjoy and if you hated the idea before you've even listened you're still going to hate it so save your cash. Hopefully for the next album i hope they can get a more consistent producer as this albums mixing is a little over the place (most noticed on Line! and Doki Doki Morning) and is really distracting on headphones.
M**S
A classic debut!
The songs here established Babymetal as genuine players in the rock/metal world, rather than a gimmick act. This debut album must surely by now be approaching 'classic' status? Not a poor track on it - genuinely all killer tracks, no fillers! World class musicianship and vocals throughout with enough pop-hooks here to keep even the casual listeners happy! ('Gimme Chocolate' anyone?). Babymetal have gone on to really take the 'metal' world by storm and long may they reign! Quite simply, a stunning debut.
M**N
This Will Take You By Surprise
I have heard about the phenomenom known as Babymetal over the years but it wasn't until purchasing this album did I start appreciating their music. I haven't seen that much of their live performances but that doesn't matter as the music is really good! The heavy metal aspect of this band is as good as other bands out there right now and the cutesy Japanese vocals seem to work with the music and it does form a pleasing listening experience. It's definitely original and unique! If you're into heavy metal music, give this a try...you may be pleasantly surprised like I was!
