SO you heard the excited chatter about the Babymetal gig tomorrow. Or maybe you are one of the thousands who are going to catch Bring Me The Horizon’s concert and are not well versed with all things Babymetal.
Here are a few choice nuggets to stoke your curiosity prompting perhaps a late dash for tickets.
We are kawaii
The band fall into uniquely Japanese creation – kawaii metal. This genre blends heavy metal music with various J-pop characteristics such as catchy-as-hell melodies and an idol aesthetic. The latter prompting extreme devotion among its followers as they slavishly follow every aspect of the performers’ lives.
Also known as idol metal, cute metal, J-pop metal or kawaiicore, this genre sounds bizarre and should not work. But it does as the worldwide popularity of Babymetal clearly demonstrates.
Babymetal is considered the pioneers of this genre, which was the brainchild of its producer Kobometal, with the “Baby” in its moniker signifying the birth of a new musical sound.
Trio borne from another outfit
Babymetal’s genesis was in the group Sakura Gakuin before its svengali management saw the potential of three members – Suzuka Nakamoto (Su-metal), Moa Kikuchi (Moametal) and Momoko Okazaki (Momometal). They were duly extracted to front Babymetal who are backed by a crack crew of metal musicians (who perform with skeleton face masks to allow the focus to remain on the three girls).
Serious live act
Since becoming the youngest ever act to perform at Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival in 2012, the band has embarked on a series of tours allowing the trio to become a road hardened outfit. Babymetal’s live prowess began to take on added significance as western audiences began to take notice of this bizarre combination of metal and teen idol pop.
Highlights of the band’s live shows includes high profile festival appearances at Pain In The Grass (US 2017), Good Things (Australia, 2018, Aftershock (US, 2019)) and most notably, Glastonbury (UK, 2019).
Impressive support portfolio
Babymetal has played as opening acts for a number of big hitters. This includes going on tour with mega-bands Metallica and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Babymetal has also famously shared the stage with the legendary Rob Halford at the Alternative Music Press Awards in 2016, belting out Painkiller and Breaking the Law with the Judas Priest frontman.
Discography and hit singles
Babymetal’s utterly infectious brand of bubblegum metal is best exemplified by its hit single Gimme Chocolate. One listen and it will stay in your mind’s playlist seemingly for eternity.
To date, the band has released four full length albums:
Babymetal (2014)
Metal Resistance (2016)
Metal Galaxy (2019)
The Other One (2023)
So gear up with some metal spikes and possibly some cutesy ribbons for a what promises to be quite a live experience at Sunway Lagoon tomorrow.
