'Babymetal' (2015)

Even though my days of Dooyoo and Ciao are long over, my passion for writing and music never left. Dooyoo's decision to stop paying for reviews kinda caused me to stop writing reviews for a while, but I still liked writing other stuff and listening to music. I've started traveling more now. One of the places that I went to was Japan.

Babymetal have been around since 2010. They were a subunit from an idol group called Sakura Gakuin (Cherry Blossom Academy). They graduated, and Babymetal started fleshing out on their own two feet later on. Whilst I don't understand how idol groups work, I've always found their blends of genres interesting.

I've seen some bands try to cash in on Babymetal's blend of bubbly pop and heavy metal, which is now known as Kawaii metal, but no other kawaii metal captures my imagination more than Babymetal.

I saw them in Wembley in 2016, and I enjoyed their performance. They really pulled off a magical show. Everything was spot on from the vocalists, dancing, and the music itself. I will always have fond memories of this album because it takes me back to my time in HMV in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.

I bought this record in that store. I've always enjoyed a lot of shows, books, and music that have originated in Japan, but this was the album that made me want to study Japanese. I can only write basic sentences, but I hope to be fluent one day.

To put it bluntly this album is fantastic. It's full of catchy tunes that get stuck in your head. While some of the lyrics and themes sound silly at first, there are some other quite mature tracks on here. It's the randomness of the album that I find entertaining. Whilst I've listened to the album many times, it hasn't lost its appeal and unpredictableness.

The album opens with "Babymetal Death." It has a very dark and eerie atmosphere, and, when the guitars kick in, it sets my heart racing. The golden trio also introduces themselves as Su-Metal, Yuimetal, and Maometal, three adorable young girls dressed in black armour and a red tutu.

One thing worth noting about this album is it's rapid pace as shown in "Megistune," "Uki Uki Midnight," "Catch Me If You Can," and "Headbanger." Even ballads like "Akatsuki," "Ijime Dame Zettai" have a very strong pace.

"Megistune" is very well received, and it's for a good reason. Powerful imagery in its themes of female empowerment and comparing them to vixens. The music itself makes me feel like I've been warped into a video game with my armour ready to battle the system.

"Ijime Dame Zettai" (translates to "No More Bullying") is another strong hit of theirs and a very upbeat tune. It gives a message of hope. It's this track that showed me that they were much more than just a gimmick.

And I have a very interesting story with "Gimme Chocolate." It's one of their biggest hits and most likely one of the ones that many people will have first listened to. It's silly, quick, but catchy. While I think they have a lot of better songs, I will forever link it to the time I got drunk at the karaoke bar and belted this tune out.

Babymetal is an album that brings elements of two very different types of pop and metal together to form a new music trend. I hope that Babymetal will release more albums in the future because I would love to see them live again.