BABYMETAL - METAL FORTH (Album Review)
Added 2025-08-19 03:00:08 +0000 UTCSo sick finally listening to a full BM album from front to back! Hope you enjoy as much as I did!
Comments
Is it just me, or is Patreon's file host crap? I have a 250Mbps connection, and many videos can't keep up with buffering. I wish we could just let it preload several minutes in advance like we did years ago, but we are so technologically advanced now that we cannot use those simple solutions anymore.
MacTaipan
2025-09-18 16:48:29 +0000 UTCWell, they represent the biggest TV Producer in Japan, so for them a good video editor is a duty. But I think they will experiment more with their new US - Label and their Universal connection. They are essential for their European and US Concerts, But I don't believe that they will allow Momo to dance and growl. She can either growl safe or she can dancebut both together is a problem in the next few years.
Karsten Schubert
2025-09-17 10:12:55 +0000 UTCYes, KaWai takes a few listens, till it no more Sounds like a CarCrash. Sunset Kiss was on the other hand extremly easy. Even when I heard Brand New Day it already walked directly into my favorites. And Sunset Kiss was the same. But Ineeded time for My Queen, this title was really hard for me till I found an access. Algorism, a modified Syncopation which probably indicates why they went so Collab based in this Album. Momo is on her way but she still has to work on her growls to pary Su. but she obviously uses every ability to train her growls. this could become a big number, Su with Momo growls and as Moa likes to emphasize something that they were unable to do before. Metali ok, but in my opinion it is a title that belongs on Stage. And White Flame, it is obvious which title Su wants to retire with it. And I can understand her, yes the Song is good but for 10 years always the same closer? While she cites Babymetal it would be a very good closer for Babymetal Concerts.
Karsten Schubert
2025-09-17 09:54:57 +0000 UTCWell, they had 3 Drywalls but they broke through 3 Drywalls. but they were extremly nervous. this was their first invitation to Rock am Ring and Rock im Park. they had not expected that the Song would take nearly as long. Normally they need 6 or 7 Versions but not that it took till Version 35 till they saw a light at the End of the tunnel. But after the Video was released (they were already in Japan for Foxfest) Nico admitted the next day that according to the access Numbers it was a very successful title for Electric Callboy and for Babymetal and when they played it at FoxFest they immediatly recognized why Babymetal said, they needed the FuFu while they were ready to do anything to get rid of the FuFu.
Karsten Schubert
2025-09-17 09:14:27 +0000 UTCOkay! Good to know!
Jaron Geil
2025-09-04 02:19:32 +0000 UTC🤟🤟🤟
Jaron Geil
2025-09-04 02:18:59 +0000 UTCHeadphones are critical for first listen through! 🤘🤘
Jaron Geil
2025-09-04 02:18:41 +0000 UTCBring it on!
Jaron Geil
2025-09-04 02:17:42 +0000 UTCThey deserve spotlighted guitar solos for that one for sure!
Jaron Geil
2025-09-04 02:17:07 +0000 UTCNice! Thanks for sharing!
Jaron Geil
2025-09-04 02:12:28 +0000 UTCThank you!
Jaron Geil
2025-09-04 02:08:23 +0000 UTCI need to check out more of the recent live performances for sure!
Jaron Geil
2025-09-04 02:07:51 +0000 UTCThat was great, thanks. To answer a couple of your questions and things you said, yes they have RATATATA as a regular fixture on their live set list with EC on track and on the big screens and it always goes down really well with the crowds joining in and having fun. Those are Indian style vocals at the start of Kon Kon rather than Arabic, but that whole song is very Bhangra style. KxAxWxAxIxI will grow on you more each time you hear it and you will hear little details like Moa blowing raspberries and Momo barking that you maybe missed on previous listens every time. It really isn't the sort of song I would normally listen to at all, never mind enjoying it, but when I play the album in the car I find myself anticipating it coming on because it is so BxOxNxKxExRxS.
Grington300 300
2025-08-20 22:18:22 +0000 UTC🍅💀🍅 🤘🏼🦊🤘🏼 Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Serega Molodets
2025-08-20 21:49:53 +0000 UTCGreat fun to watch this whole album review with you. This is only the 2nd time listening to the full album and I am not quite sure about KxAxWxAxIxIx, I’ll have to listen next time with headphones on to try and her some of the details that I’m missing. Looking forward to your Album review of their first album. Keep up the great work.🦊 🍑🦊⚡️🦊❤️
NOT-A CULT
2025-08-19 23:40:29 +0000 UTCAs others have said the reports are that Momo did do some live harsh vocals in the recent Japan Zepp shows.
Jim Nusbaum
2025-08-19 20:19:04 +0000 UTCThese live growls sound so much better than I would have expected!
MacTaipan
2025-08-19 18:11:42 +0000 UTCGreat review! I had several moments of tearing up induced by Su‘s voice during Sunset Kiss, Algorism and White Flame. Still haven‘t warmed up to KxAxWxAxIxI, and I’m afraid that I won‘t ever. It may be their first song that I can‘t honestly call good (because DAIDAI‘s previous contribution to the BABYMETAL world, The End with Lil Uzi Vert, was easily ignored). I‘m wondering what live performances of White Flame are going to look like. Are the Kami going to be shredding for a minute in their little corner of the side stage?
MacTaipan
2025-08-19 18:02:47 +0000 UTCSame for me regarding KxAxWxAxIxI, took a few listens. But after listening to Dicodec's review of this song and them separating the tracks, I just can't get rid of the "brrrp" and "woof woof" from my head :)
Zabber67
2025-08-19 16:57:27 +0000 UTCLoved listening to this album along with you Jaron! KxAxWxAxIxI definitely threw me for a loop the first time I heard it but it has become one of my most replayed songs on METAL FORTH so far. It's such an earworm and there are so many layers to peel away in the production. Sunset Kiss is probably my favorite track overall but that's not surprising to me because Brand New Day is my favorite BABYMETAL track. At this point, they could make an entire album with Polyphia and I would die happy. Also, I think this will be of interest to you - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bzNm1BHtRcQ I would love to see Momo doing harsh vocals live as well in the future and we've been hearing her do it live during crowd interactions more and more lately. I really love the tone of her harsh vocals. I just hope she's got a healthy technique for the sake of her health and the longevity of her vocals but I'm sure she's got the best teachers available to her.
Dillon Taylor
2025-08-19 16:34:21 +0000 UTCJaron, cracking review to a fantastic album. Personally, I would have liked Metali and Ratatata to have missed the cut for this album and had two other tracks on there, but, you know, beggars can't be choosers. Maybe those songs could have gone to a future "Best Of" album. I just thought they were a bit old to be on this album. I am not referring to the quality of these songs, as they are both bangers, and I am aware of the Momo factor in both tracks, and I love that. But geez, Metali was almost two years old, if you get where I'm coming from?. Jaron, I hear you on your reservations for KxAxWxAxIxI. The first time I heard the song I pegged it as my least favorite track on the album, by a long, long way. However, after a few listens, the song has worked its way into my brain, and I now think it's in the best three or four tracks on the album ... and climbing; go figure! Again, thanks for the full album review; I really enjoyed it.
Len Cooke
2025-08-19 11:51:14 +0000 UTC(I'll come back later to watch more) The way I see ii, Babymetal takes a genre/band/sub-genre/culture/style and is able to extract the core of that sound and make it their own and I think that's exactly how these collabs go too. --- DAIDAI of Paledusk created KxAxWxAxIxI He was 17 when he discovered Babymetal, from an interview: 'I remember listening to them and feeling like, "Something absolutely crazy has appeared! This is fascinating!' 'So you were all-in on BABYMETAL from the beginning.' 'Of course! That goes for both BABYMETAL's greater concept and the music equally. And, for example, I saw that members of BMTH were watching BABYMETAL's live performance from the side of the stage at an overseas festival, and many metal artists, from old-school to new-generation were openly talking about how much they enjoyed BABYMETAL. Seeing that everyone loved BABYMETAL so much really inspired me to dream. In fact, if you look at my phone from that time, you'll see that I took a lot of screenshots of those kinds of photos (laughs).' 'I also took screenshots of BMTH and BABYMETAL taking photos together backstage at festivals. Seeing those screenshots now, it's really moving to think that I've now worked with both those artists.' https://stechen.blogspot.com/2024/12/blog-post.html --- Sunset Kiss is how I had imagined Brand New Day to be, Polyphia but heavier with vocals. 'SU-METAL: In the song's early stages, we used a placeholder guitar track before Polyphia's take arrived. Until that point, we’d built the melody to encourage a "vertical" rhythmic body movement that would go with the guitar but something always felt off, and we kept searching for a better direction. The instant we heard Polyphia's guitar in the A-melody, we knew that was it, and immediately reworked everything including the melody lines, transforming them into a "horizontal" flow. It's no exaggeration to say that hearing Polyphia's guitar this time is what brought the song to completion. I’d like listeners to pay particularly close attention to Polyphia’s guitar contributions especially in the A-melody, which I love the most.' 'SU-METAL: That's right. This time, the biggest breakthrough for me in terms of singing was a vocal technique where I "removed" vowels.' 'SU-METAL: Yes. Especially in "Sunset Kiss," it's almost as if I'm singing only consonants. The resulting softness and a certain depth in my voice emerged as I adapted my singing to the atmosphere of the guitar, and I realized it happened quite naturally.' 'SU-METAL: That's right. When I wanted to match Polyphia's guitar style, my usual voice felt a bit too strong. So, I experimented with how to make it softer, and as a result, the vowels gradually disappeared.' https://stechen.blogspot.com/2025/08/202507yg.html
autohmae
2025-08-19 08:23:33 +0000 UTCAnd Alex joined them on stage ones too, in his home state in the US (the band moved to the US some years ago).
autohmae
2025-08-19 07:53:53 +0000 UTCAwesome album review!! Can’t wait to see the one you’ll do for their first album. For the live: from me to u, RATATATA, Song 3, and Kon Kon has been on every EU and NA show’s setlist. Sunset Kiss was played once, and live debuted at O2. Poppy also got on stage at the O2 (and one previous time in Germany). Bloodywood got on stage a few times with Babymetal in the US, and Babymetal got on stage once for Bloodywood’s set, for Bekhauf as well! Moa, Su, and Momo went hard headbanging on this one. Recently, KAWAII also live debuted in Japan. Sleeper hit for me. So damn catchy, haha. Moa goin’ “BRRRR”, and Momo’s growl/barks giving DMX a run for his money 🤣. And no sir, don’t take away my KAWAII!! Babymetal went thrall on this too!! Haha. Sunset Kiss is so good, one of my favorites. I’m really hoping Spiritbox, or at least Courtney gets on stage with Babymetal in Nov for their LA Arena Show. It’s right before Spiritbox’s Nov tour, and they are based in LA. Those guitar scrapes are 100% Mike Stringer from Spiritbox. Courtney’s husband. Algorism is the spiritual successor to Syncopation, 2nd Album. Which was on that album’s Japanese release. Hence, the very “Japanese” feel. Metali of course, has been on their setlist as a staple song since its live debut at the end of 2023. With a whole Kami solo intro, and an extended audience engagement section, so you’re right on! For White Flame: Su-metal has full lyrical credit, and partial compositional credits as well. Babymetal’s original Kami Band East’s guitarist, Leda Cygnus did the guitars and bass for this song. An absolute banger of a finale to the melodic speed metal trilogy, preceded by Amore, and before that, Akatsuki. Also, to report on Momometal’s harsh: she has recently started to do a little bit of that live (starting in Japan shows). Mainly growling a few ad-lib crowd engagement parts not on official tracks. She has also said that she’s practicing in interviews. I think she’ll eventually be able to do it well enough to handle most of it live (albeit still on the headset mic). And pssst: it’s “Metal Forth”, as in moving Metal forward, and not “fourth”, 🤣. Great review once again!! 🤘🦊🤘🦊
Ganimal
2025-08-19 05:33:38 +0000 UTCyou're gonna hate me....it's "Forth" not "Fourth" :)
Chris Lane- Venturi 3D
2025-08-19 04:36:43 +0000 UTCGreat Reaction! I really enjoyed this album. Got a cd and vinyl of it! Are you going to listen to the live version of the songs for the 1st album or the studio versions? They do perform ratatata at live shows without EC. Its been a regular on the set list for a while and is amazing live. And on Momo's growls live, they very recently have been letting her scream/growl live. Its like they are testing it slowly, so I wouldn't be surprised if she starts fully doing it live in the future. There is a clip of it at their recent perform at Summer Sonic.
Gino
2025-08-19 04:19:53 +0000 UTC
