BABYMETAL – Metal Resistance Review

BABYMETAL Metal Resistance Cover

Release Date: April 1, 2016

Track Listing

  1. Road of Resistance
  2. KARATE
  3. Awadama Fever
  4. YAVA!
  5. Amore
  6. Meta Taro
  7. From Dusk Til Dawn
  8. GJ!
  9. Sis. Anger
  10. No Rain, No Rainbow
  11. Tales of the Destinies
  12. The One

Review

When we last visited a BABYMETAL album, it was their self-titled debut in February of 2014. Back then, they were just gaining momentum in Japan and overseas.

Fast forward to current times, and they have become darlings of the metal world, garnering praise from many artists within the genre and various music publications. They are racking up more performances at overseas festivals and live houses.

With that in mind, one must be aware of two polarizing opinions when going into BABYMETAL’s latest effort. First, they are a breath of fresh air in the sometimes-stagnant worlds of idol pop and metal. The second is that they are an abomination making a mockery of pure metal music, and their records should be burned in sacrifice to the metal gods.

If you follow the second train of thought or somewhat agree with it, you should stop reading now because nothing beyond this paragraph will probably be any good to you if your bias is that strong. No, stop reading here.


Are you still with me? Let’s get into this thing and see how it pans out.

Preceding this album was the digital single Road of Resistance, a collaboration with Dragonforce members Herman Li and Sam Totman, released in 2015. In February 2016, the artwork and track list for the Metal Resistance album was released.  The album’s lead single, KARATE, followed shortly after. The Su-metal solo No Rain, No Rainbow and album cut Awadama Fever was performed in concert before Metal Resistance’s release.

So now that the full album has been unleashed upon the world, what are we to make of it? As expected, it starts with the 2 singles. Whether this eases one into the album is debatable, but why not start with what people already know? As you continue your listening journey, it will become apparent that this is a less playful version of BABYMETAL. Metal Resistance showcases a much different version of the group from their debut.

Gone are the idol-like influences, and in are the serious, straightforward rocking tunes and, strangely enough, power rock ballads. Yes, you read that right. And yes, Su-metal has the chops to pull those off convincingly.

BABYMETAL’s evolution does lead to a bit of a quandary for fans. There is the possibility that it may alienate people if the shift in musical direction is too much to comprehend or process. That probably won’t be an issue with most BABYMETAL disciples. Especially those who are accepting of a bit of genre cross-pollination, but those who crave more idol than metal will be walking away very disappointed.

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