BABYMETAL - Metal Forth (2025)^{Release ID: 61614}

I really want to like BABYMETAL. When they first came on to the scene in 2014, they were playing a very unserious, but also very fun style of power metal. The “fun” part drew me in, while many other metal fans were in complete disgust that anyone would want to enjoy themselves instead of moshing to incoherent gibberish. But something changed around the turn of the decade. After losing Yui Mizuno in 2018, BABYMETAL started becoming trend chasers.

Now that on its own might not be a bad thing, but when you release an album such as Metal Forth, it starts to feel less like an experiment and more as a grab bag. The first four tracks on this record have features (Poppy, Electric Callboy, Slaughter to Prevail and Bloodywood) and each song sounds like a rejected tune from each of their respective groups. On reflection, Metal Forth feels closer to Ed Sheeran’s collaboration albums than it does a BABYMETAL one; rather than inviting guests to feature on BABYMETAL tracks, it is instead a BABYMETAL feature on another band. The transitions between tunes like “Song 3” and "Kon! Kon!” is jarring and unpleasant to put it politely.

When I reviewed The Other One, I criticized it for dismantling the identity of BABYMETAL as j-pop/metal hybrid idols, with its incessant use of industrial percussion. But now? It’s as if BABYMETAL does not have an identity at all! One moment you’re listening to power metal, the next it’s Indian oriental, then the worst deathcore you’ve probably ever heard (“Song 3”), then Courtney LaPlante shows up to do some kind of nu metalcore hybrid.

This is a hard album to recommend, even for the novelty’s sake, because the novelty of BABYMETAL has mostly passed. This crossover of j-pop/metal into the west was at its peak with Metal Resistance in 2016. And instead of staying the course, BABYMETAL joined Capitol Records, got a load of guest features from popular bands of the time, which might be good for artist recognition, but the record that came along with it feels more like a collaboration project. I guess that if you like any of the guest features then you might check out a couple of those, but even then, you’ll probably find better tunes in the bands original discography.

Best Songs: Sunset Kiss, White Flame ー白炎ー