ALBUM REVIEW: METAL GALAXY – BABYMETAL

In the five years since they first broke ground internationally, it’s difficult to think of a band that’ve proven more polarising than Japan’s BABYMETAL. Back in 2014, nobody could have ever guessed though exactly where a video of three teenagers singing about chocolate would lead a mere five years on. Internet comment sections the world over, predictably, lost their minds over the madcap fusion of J-pop and metal dubbed ‘kawaii-metal’ by the group, with some quickly becoming fanatically devoted to the group and their mythology, and others practically decrying it as musical heresy.

Five years, two albums and a lineup change which saw Yui-Metal stepping down last October for health reasons, later though and it’s impossible to deny the cultural force that BABYMETAL have grown to; with sold-out arena shows aplenty in their homeland, slots at prestigious festivals like Glastonbury and Download the world over, and an ever-growing list of famous fans from the world of metal added to their list of achievements, as well as their first US arena headline show being imminent. Now though, the band are looking to take things further and build upon the success of Metal Resistance with their third studio album, METAL GALAXY.

“Incorporate the sound of different countries in which the band has toured since the release of METAL REISTANCE”. That, according to lead vocalist Su-Metal, is the mission statement BABYMETAL aimed for on METAL GALAXY, and it’s a principle that remains fairly constant throughout the record. Across its 14 track runtime, METAL GALAXY runs a huge gamut of musical genres, from metal to electro, from rap to straight up J-pop; and does so fairly amazingly well across the board. It sound incredibly jarring to have an album dive from power metal one moment, to Indian-flavoured instrumentation the next, and to elevator music-style jazziness after that all within the span of a few tracks, but it simply comes together in a far more cohesive-feeling manner than the eclecticism would suggest on paper.

In actuality, what the commitment to creating a more ‘global’ album means in addition to the genre variance is that METAL GALAXY ends up bringing in a wide variety of guests from both inside and out of the world of rock and metal to add to the band’s musical canvas. B’Z virtuoso axeman Tak Matsumoto gets this train rolling after the brief trippy introduction track FUTURE METAL, shredding adeptly atop the electronics of DA DA DANCE in a manner that harkens back slightly to Iine! from their debut album; whilst Tim Henson and Scott LePage of prog-metallers POLYPHIA lend some welcome chug to the far more relaxed Brand New Day, previously-released standalone song Distortion receives a snarling do-over courtesy of ARCH ENEMY’s Alissa White-Gluz.

Easily the most entertaining though, comes with the sudden appearance of SABATON commander-in-chief Joakim Brodén for an utterly ludicrous guest spot on the almost sea shanty-like folk-metal inspired banger Oh! MAJINAI that sees the Swede enthusiastically bellow his way through a catchy Japanese chorus akin to the sound of KORPIKLAANI or TURISAS on a sugar-high. It’s a moment that somehow might well rank as the most ridiculous thing he’s ever put his name to as well – quite a feat for a man whose day job tends to involve wearing body armour and singing bombastic Euro-power-metal songs about various wars in front of a model tank drum riser. And then, of course, there’s PA PA YA! – which sees Su and Moa joined by Thai rapper F.HERO for an utterly insane electro-rap-metal romp about summer and the titular fruit. To any other act on the planet, this would be a laughable idea, but for BABYMETAL, it’s simply yet another excuse to craft a titanic earworm of a song – one that you’ll undoubtedly find yourself chanting along to long before it finishes.

Outside of the guest spots, METAL GALAXY is no slouch either though, with Su, Moa and their backing band taking dives into yet more electro-tinged metal that wouldn’t sound out of place in Dance Dance Revolution at times and throwing in some Latin rhythms for good measure (Night Night Burn!), and, in a possible highlight of their whole career, their aforementioned infusion of Indian instrumentation into the band’s usual metal formula as Su gives perhaps one of her standout performances of the record as far as vocal skill goes (Shanti Shanti Shanti). There’s even a small bone to throw at those who might be tiring of the J-pop vocals around the midpoint too, with IN THE NAME OF seeing the girls ditched entirely for a clattering, riffy romp of screamed and growled vocals and furious percussion, in a manner not dissimilar to the approach of group’s Kami Band of backing musicians on the likes of BABYMETAL DEATH and in their occasional live solos.

To cap things off, METAL GALAXY then throws in what the band themselves refer to as a “trilogy of lights” – Starlight, Shine and Arkadia. What that means is anyone’s guess, of course but who are we to question the Fox God? The first of these, likely familiar to anyone who’s seen the band live recently, is a colossal almost djent-like number with an instantaneous chorus hook that lodges itself in your mind pretty much immediately. Shine, meanwhile, is perhaps this record’s answer to The One – a skyscraper sized ballad that brings Su to the forefront while alternating between acoustic and metal passages to really show off her adaptable vocal prowess. Capping things off, Arkadia, simply put is one final blast of over the top riffing that sounds somewhat akin to a Japanese take on early-career DRAGONFORCE at times, such is the level of bombast on display in the soloing. It’s a deeply satisfying way to cap off the record, with strong vocals from Su and Moa atop all the shredding, and should be a great track to hear live should it eventually appear in the band’s live set.

Overall, METAL GALAXY simply has to be applauded not only for its sheer diversity, but for the level at which it succeeds at. Every left-turn to dabble in a completely different sub-genre is carried out with frankly remarkable skill, in no small part thanks to the incredible musicianship of everyone involved in crafting these tracks for Su and Moa to be let loose upon. Cramming this many different genres into a single album can’t have been an easy feat, but the final result is simply joyous to listen to. In all honesty though, those who weren’t already all-in on the BABYMETAL craze are probably still unlikely to be convinced by METAL GALAXY, but fans are sure to love every second of the complete insanity contained within its 14 tracks, and there’s almost nothing here that they probably won’t be clamouring to hear on their world tour.

Rating: 9/10

METAL GALAXY is set for release on October 11th via earMUSIC/Edel. 

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