Su-metal says she gets a vivid image in her mind when she hears Starlight: “Every time I sing this song, it reminds me of my travels to New Zealand, and the starry nights and 180˚ of star lights,” she says. “It was a vast amount of small lights I can never forget.”
‘Global metal’ is a contentious term, which could imply those bands are somehow separate from, or even worse, inferior to the rest of the genre. It’s even weirder when you’re discussing it with a Japanese band, who geographically, but not commercially or logistically, fall into that category. They have the clout to give bands such as The Hu a platform, but are stoked to have Swede Joakim on their album.
But as the world becomes more connected, there is a sense that increasing numbers of ‘global metal’ bands are breaking through. Kobametal denies he’s jumping on a bandwagon, and is keen to point out how much he just loves metal – especially bands that can alchemise it into original, shining forms.
“I’ve never consciously thought about trends or things of that sort, but with Babymetal I’ve had many opportunities to explore different rock scenes, such as bands like Bring Me The Horizon – their last album is very experimental,” he explains.
“So from the outside world, it may seem like there’s a trend or a movement, but as Babymetal, we’re not trying to get on that trend, it just simultaneously happened. It was very interesting that Bring Me The Horizon, during Glastonbury, had dancers onstage. Maybe they actually have Babymetal in their sights.”
He chuckles. A few days after this interview, Bring Me The Horizon will play before Babymetal headline the second stage at Japan’s Summer Sonic festival. Oli Sykes will say: “We’re just here to warm you up. We’re here for the Fox God!” Babymetal have long taken a pic’n’mix approach to homaging metal and pop culture, but it’s super-odd and brilliant to hear Metal Galaxy’s opening track, Future Metal.
A robotic voice states: 'This ain’t heavy metal, welcome to the world of Babymetal', followed by an electronic flurry. It’s an obvious twist on BMTH’s song Heavy Metal from this year’s Amo record.
“Yeah, maybe, but what I really value the most is the metal masters, the different famous bands that have carried on metal music throughout the generations,” he says.
“I feel that it’s important for these new generation bands, like Babymetal or Bring Me The Horizon, to succeed the metal spirit and try and continue that tradition. But at the same time, the evolution of metal music is very interesting, and I hope that I can create an evolution in metal in that way. Maybe Sheffield is one of the stars in the metal galaxy!”
Yui’s departure could have caused Babymetal to crashland, but Su-metal and Moametal seem content enough inside their metaphorical spacecraft, chatting enthusiastically about Metal Galaxy. Captain Kobametal admits he was concerned about the girls losing a shipmate, but is confident they’re in it for the long haul.
“Yeah, obviously I was worried about them, but at the same time I respect each member, and both of them have become adults, and each of them are continuing Babymetal because they want to, and I definitely appreciate that,” he explains. “Because there’s a sort of trust between this group. Obviously I’m worried, but I just trust that they want to do it.”
He remembers auditioning for his Babymetal crew almost 10 years ago, when the girls were involved with singing and modelling. He immediately knew Su-metal, Moametal and Yuimetal were a winning combination.
“When I first heard Su-metal sing, there’s not that many singers that sing the way she does, it was very direct to me,” he remembers. “Metal bands don’t usually have any dance aspect, so I thought it would be interesting to add that to the new future of metal, hence I selected Yuimetal and Moametal to be the twin factor in the choreography.”
Over the last nine months, they’ve all had to adjust to a new dynamic. At Download festival last year, there were four members onstage, adding new level of animation to their madcap jumps, spins and hand gestures.
This year they’ve settled back into their triangle formation, with the vacant position filled by one of three trained-up, rotating members: the Avengers. They introduced the concept at those Yokohama shows before Glastonbury, via a message on the big screen.
“It was Metal Resistance Episode VIII, and the beginning of the new Babymetal,” explains Kobametal. “On top of Su-metal and Moametal, their supporting Avengers are the chosen dancers that the Fox God had summoned, and that was the main theme of these shows. And who will be chosen is only something the Fox God knows…” Funnily enough, our question about whether Babymetal will ever get a permanent third member is also directed to the vulpine ruler.
One of the new countries Babymetal have visited is Mexico, and Kobametal talks passionately about watching Lucha Libre wrestling there. When we ask whether he’ll ever introduce it into Babymetal, he explains that wrestling theatrics have been there all along. And suddenly, it’s obvious.
“It’s already in it,” he explains. “The wrestling part of it is reflected in the storyline. There’s dramatic storylines where the chosen dancers come out, and in the past we had the Chosen Seven, or the dark themes.”
