Official Website
Current members:
- Suzuka Nakamoto (aka Su-metal - lead vocals)
- Yui Mizuno (aka Yuimetal - vocals)
- Moa Kikuchi (aka Moametal - vocals)
- Kami Band:
- Takayoshi Ohmura – guitar
- Leda Cygnus – guitar
- Isao Fujita – guitar
- Boh – bass
- Isamu Takita - bass
- Hideki Aoyama – drums
- Minako Maruyama (backup dancer)
- Minami Tsukui (backup dancer)
- Mikio Fujioka – guitar (passed away in January 2018)
- BABYMETAL (2014)
- Metal Resistance (2016)
- Metal Galaxy (2019)
The first song that I heard of theirs was "Gimme Chocolate," from their self-titled debut album. I was not initially a big fan of that track because I didn't understand what the heck it was supposed to be. The instrumentation started off somewhat heavy and fast paced, with some nice melodic riffing, but the instant the girls started with their overly bubbly, cutesy singing, I was like "nope" and closed the video...ha ha. Some time later, I saw a YouTube thumbnail for the video for "Megitsune," also from their debut album. I decided to give them another chance, and I'm glad I did, because I had the polar opposite reaction. It grabbed me from the moment the song started and wouldn't let go. From that moment on, I was a proud BABYMETAL fan. The Kami Band is very good at what they do, and Su, Yui, and Moa are just the cutest little girls I've ever seen. I particularly love Su's vocals - she has a surprisingly powerful voice for someone so young, and this is showcased perfectly on tracks like "Akatsuki," from their debut album.
Until yesterday, when I finally sat down and listened to Metal Resistance in its entirety, I thought that their debut album was the better of their two LPs. I'm not so sure now. The debut has a lot of good songs on it, but it's kind of all over the place stylistically. Metal Resistance, on the other hand, is much more consistent in that regard, which I appreciate. I'd start with the debut if you've decided to take the plunge and give them a shot, which I think you should absolutely do regardless of what subgenre of metal or hard rock you typically listen to.
Given the extremely niche nature of their musical style and the nature of J-pop in general, I'm not sure how long they will last. I'm hoping against hope that they won't just be some passing fad that will quickly disappear, as some folks on their (dwindling) list of critics have previously suggested. All I know is that as long as they're around, I'm on board. Like Amaranthe, BABYMETAL is just such a fun group and are a delightful reminder that metal doesn't have to be angry and serious all the time to be enjoyable.
Megitsune (from their debut album)
Gimme Chocolate (from their debut album)
Akatsuki (from their debut album)
Headbanger (from their debut album)
Karate (from Metal Resistance)
The One (from Metal Resistance)
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