Babymetal

Babymetal

By Jay Oakley

Strap yourself in because this is going to be rough.

First off, I want to start by saying that this is not the rantings of someone who knows nothing of the Japanese metal scene. Dir En Grey has been one of my favorite bands for years, I've even had the pleasure of interviewing them. I also know of and have multiple albums for Girugamesh, Mucc, D'espairsRay and many more so let's just get that out of the way.

Three teenage girls, Suzuka Nakamoto "Su-metal", Yui Mizuno "Yuimetal", and Moa Kikuchi "Moametal" are considered to be the band's lineup with various musicians playing the music.

The bottom line is this is not a metal band and should not be considered one. While the songs do have heavy guitars, bass and noticeable drums, the songs are much more of an electronic pop-rock style. The lyrics, which are sung in Japanese, are very cutesy and the performances are based solely on the look and image of these children. Suzuka handles all the main vocals and does just fine but Yui and Moa are not singers and should not be considered front women to the band. The are merely glorified backup singers and dancers.

It's pretty clear that this band is a corporate cash-grab. All filler, no killer.