Some people have heard their name or even their music, in my metal circle however I’ve heard praise but also a lot of hate on them. The hate starts with just their name already..However… They’re playing The Netherlands on June 5th and I introduce you and tell you why you need to stop hating on them!!
Created as a subunit “Juonbu” (heavy metal club) for Idol group Sakura Gakuen in 2010, as a fusion between idols and metal, just to release a couple of songs on a live only distributed dvd but as soon as their DVD hit YouTube in April by the end of the year they had over a million views and soon after BABYMETAL became their own group.
Babymetal consists of three girls, Su-Metal, Yuimetal and Moametal. These three girls had never been in contact with metal when their producer had the idea. While they were taught about it, all three really liked it and the combined idol dancing with the heavy metal music played. The genre has been described as “Kawaii Metal” and for many music critics they have broken boundaries and stepped out of the box with their music.
They were the youngest act ever to play on well known japanese metal festival “Summer Sonic” in 2012 since then they have shared the stage and toured with well know metal bands as Metallica and Slayer and they also played as the opening act for Lady Gaga’s US tour in 2014.
However since the beginning there has been a couple of changes, the background band was played by a mock up at first, the girls would perform with a backing track and have men in skeleton outfits acts like they played the instruments but for live shows they started with a band that has now grown out to be their all time band called “Kami Band”. This band consists of wonderful Japanese artists all with unique skills for playing their instruments.
Stage image and fanbase
According to Kei “Kobametal” Kobayashi, the band’s executive producer, the band was formed under the idea of a new type of metal, and the members of the band receive “divine messages” from the Fox God, though Nakamoto explained that the messages received were indirect, as they would be sent to Kobametal first. He stated that it was up to the people’s decision to accept or reject the idea. Additionally, he rejected the notion of the band being a “metal” or “pop” act, preferring “the one and only Babymetal.” Kikuchi joked that the three members did not decide to join the band, as it was a destiny chosen by the Fox God, whose goal is said to have the band perform and spread their music all over the world.
The fanbase, collectively referred to as “The One”, has been noted by Mizuno to be a mixed demographic of varying age. Noting the fans of metal and pop, she described the “metalheads” who look like themselves, and the pop fans who dress and cosplay as them. She hopes to be able to continue to reach out to all different types of people. When asked about being role models for their fans and young girls, considered it an honour. She further emphasized the importance of being able to reach out to the youth, especially for younger music fans branching out to the metal genre via Babymetal, noting her own lack of experience of metal before joining the band.
The members
Name: Su-metal
Birth Name: Nakamoto Suzuka (中元 すず香)
Birthday: September 20, 1997
Position: Vocal, Dance
Twitter: babymetal twitter
Youtube: BABYMETAL
Name: Yuimetal
Birth Name: Mizuno Yui (水野 由結)
Birthday: June 20, 1999
Position: Scream, Dance
Twitter: babymetal twitter
Youtube: BABYMETAL
Name: Moametal
Birth Name: Kikuchi Moa (菊地 最愛)
Birthday: July 4, 1999
Position: Scream, Dance
Twitter: babymetal twitter
Youtube: BABYMETAL
Kami band
- Takayoshi Ohmura – guitar (2013–present)
- Leda Cygnus – guitar (2012–present)
- Isao Fujita – guitar (2015–present)
- Boh – bass (2013–present)
- Hideki Aoyama – drums (2013–present)
- Yuya Maeta – drums (2014–present)
Former
- Mikio Fujioka – guitar (2013–2018✞)
My thoughts on BABYMETAL
Given the fact that I’m not a super big fan of girls/womens voices in general, I do enjoy metal a lot and I like the refreshing sound they have. They combine what I really like from Japan with what I really like. What I Always really enjoy about Japanese music is that there’s a certain way of acting of dancing and enjoying the music. Going from Furi (special dance moves during the show) to the way of praising the artist at that moment.
In visual kei these type of things are really big and I really miss that way of being. I am super super excited about going to the show coming June and see what they are about in real life! I’ll of course write a live report and put a few videos on our Instagram.
UPDATE: the show was already sold out on the day the sale started. I hope to still be able to get tickets.
