The Rise of Babymetal

As Babymetal's backing musicians, the Kami Band, took the stage at 9 p.m. — dressed as ghosts, resembling antagonists from a Japanese horror flick — the crowd exploded in one of the loudest eruptions I have ever heard, which only got louder when singers Su-Metal, Yui-metal and Moa-metal stepped out. As Babymetal launched into their anthem “Babymetal Death” and then zipped straight into “Gimme Chocolate,” the audience's cheers and clapping along were so enthusiastic they almost drowned out the music.



Video clips of the band’s performances in larger venues such as London's Wembley Arena depict an ornate, theatrical experience. At the Wiltern, the show was relatively stripped-down, with a Babymetal banner overlooking the stage, the Kami Band lurking in the background, and the singers up-front. Without the various adornments that go with an arena show, the focus really was on the three girls, and it’s a testament to their energy and work ethic that they kept the crowd entranced for the entirety of their 80-minute set.



Taking lead vocal on the majority of songs, Su-Metal – the oldest of the trio – proved that she has a genuine set of pipes, her singing voice shining strong on tracks like “Amore – Sousei.” Yui-metal and Moa-metal more than held their own as well, but in the end, the trio’s stage presence is more about their endless energy than their singing voices. Save for a few quick respites for costume changes, all three girls are a constant whirlwind of movement onstage. The trio's detailed choreography, a common characteristic of bands formed out of the J-pop system, is one of the many things that distinguishes a Babymetal performance from being just another metal concert.



Seeing Babymetal live, you can really see how the group has become a phenomenon. Their YouTube videos, as great as they, don't capture the full energy of a Babymetal concert. The crowd Friday night stuck with the band through every song, their energy level never wavering. Most concerts, even from the most legendary bands, have one or two songs where the crowd quiets down, takes a bathroom or beer break, or otherwise rests to pace themselves. That never happened on Friday night.

The backing band, which rotates its studio roll call and songwriters so much that it’s difficult to keep track of them all, have done a fantastic job of mixing up the styles heard on “Metal Resistance”. Straight away we’re treated to a triple-salvo of power metal opener ‘Road of Resistance’ (co-written by and featuring DragonForce’s Sam Totman and Herman Li), modern metal crusher and catchy-as-hell ‘KARATE’ and even a moment of digital hardcore madness with ‘Awadama Fever’ (written by Mad Capsule Markets’ Takeshi Ueda). Despite this rapid run through styles, the glue holding it all together, the trio of Suzuka Nakamoto, Yui Mizuno and Moa Kikuchi, bring the J-Pop influences through with enough consistency to avoid the changes becoming too jarring – especially with the manic ‘Tales of the Destinies’ closing the album.



Unfortunately, a few tracks on the album do fall short of the mark. Folk metal inspired ‘Meta Taro’ feels too repetitive and forgettable for Babymetal’s normal standards while ‘Amore’ feels a bit too similar to the power metal driven tracks of the self-titled debut. ‘No Rain, No Rainbow’ also lacks something to make it truly memorable. For its interesting instrumental moments bordering on black metal, ‘Sis. Anger’ also falls short vocally.



After ‘KARATE’, however, the real highlights come towards the end of the album. Nakamoto’s performance on ‘From Dusk Til Dawn’ is awe-inspiring while Kikuchi and Mizuno team up well as Black Babymetal on the nu metal juggernaut of ‘GJ!’, following on from their pair-up on ‘Onedari Daisakusen’ from “Babymetal”. With both ‘KARATE’ and ‘GJ!’ written by Yuyoyuppe, maybe the band’s management should consider more collaborations with him in the future.