BABYMETAL “METAL FORTH” Album Review
Over a decade since their debut, BABYMETAL have cemented themselves as the architects of kawaii metal, a genre they practically invented. Known for turning mosh pits into choreographed chaos, they’ve gone from novelty to mainstage, carving out a place where idol pop and crushing guitars live side by side.
On METAL FORTH, they throw the gates wide open without any hesitation. Poppy, Electric Callboy, Slaughter to Prevail, Bloodywood, Polyphia, Spiritbox, and Tom Morello all crash the party. The result is a genre-hopping, high-octane sprint through metal’s outer limits, grounded by BABYMETAL-only tracks that remind you whose world you’re in.
The album bursts to life with From Me To You (feat. Poppy), a track that thrives on contrast. Poppy’s sugary vocals flipping into razor-edged ferocity against BABYMETAL’s relentless drive. RATATATA (feat. Electric Callboy) dials up the absurd fun, fusing hyper-catchy electronics with kawaii metal energy for a hook that’s impossible to shake. Then Song 3 (feat. Slaughter to Prevail) drags the record into its heaviest territory, locking BABYMETAL’s precision into Alex Terrible’s earth-shaking growls for a seamless collision of extremes. As an opening run, these collaborations don’t just add flavour, they redefine what BABYMETAL can be when they share the wheel.
KxAxWxAxlxl leans hard into BABYMETAL’s signature kawaii metal identity, amplifying every playful hook and stomping riff until it bursts with personality. It flips the switch on the album’s tone, trading the darker heaviness for a fun, bouncy rush that feels unmistakably theirs. Charismatic vocal melodies bounce over driving guitars, creating a track that doesn’t just showcase their style, it completely embraces it.
Like a lost early 2000s anime opening, Sunset Kiss bursts with bright playfulness and dreamy nostalgia. Polyphia’s dazzling guitar work and shimmering melodies lift the track into something light and airy, a surprising turn on such a heavy record. At first, it feels almost too different, but that’s its strength; it becomes the album’s sunlit detour, proof that by this point in METAL FORTH, BABYMETAL are intent on exploring every corner of metal’s vast landscape.
My Queen stands out as one of the album’s true partnerships rather than a guest spot. The track feels 50/50 BABYMETAL and Spiritbox. With instrumentals that lean heavily into Spiritbox’s atmospheric, djent-infused style. The female-only vocals give the song a commanding presence, turning its title into more than just a name; it’s an anthem of strength and unity. Between BABYMETAL’s ethereal melodies and Courtney LaPlante’s soaring-to-snarling delivery, My Queen carries a sense of empowerment that hits as hard as its Spiritbox-esque breakdown. It’s intense, unrelenting, and easily one of METAL FORTH’s most formidable moments.
愛はアルゴリズム (“Love is an algorithm”) becomes the hypnotic core of Algorism, looping through the track like a piece of code you can’t debug. BABYMETAL frame romance as a riddle – “誰にも解けない” (“that no one can solve”) – where past and future blur inside a maze of desire and fear. The verses carry a colder edge, sundered by lines like “突き刺す虚な笑顔” (“a hollow smile that pierces deep”), before the chorus bursts back with mechanical precision. Musically, the locked-in groove and interlaced melodies feel as calculated as they are combustible, turning a rigid structure into something burning and alive.
METAL FORTH is BABYMETAL’s way of pushing metal forward while showcasing the many forms it can take today. The collaborations are the album’s heartbeat, each drawn from bands they’ve toured with over the years. It’s wholesome to see those connections blossom from tour friendships into fully formed tracks, becoming the driving force behind one of BABYMETAL’s most ambitious records yet. Su-Metal, MoaMetal and MoMoMetal continue to control the whole world at the tip of their fingers, embracing calamity with a finite precision and an eternal flame. And with this album comes a promise that their world domination is not stopping anytime soon.
METAL FORTH TRACK LISTING:
01. from me to u (feat. Poppy)
02. RATATATA (BABYMETAL x Electric Callboy)
03. Song 3 (BABYMETAL x Slaughter to Prevail)
04. Kon! Kon! (feat. Bloodywood)
05. KxAxWxAxIxI
06. Sunset Kiss (feat. Polyphia)
07. My Queen (feat. Spiritbox)
08. Algorism
09. METALI!! (feat. Tom Morello)
10. White Flame ー白炎ー