Babymetal are on the rise. There is no question about it. Since the viral release of the 2011 single ‘Doki Doki Morning’ combing J-pop and metal like never before, Babymetal fever has spread like wildfire, and this has led to the 2’300 capacity Forum in London being completely sold out tonight.
I have been a long-time fan of metal from Japan, but Babymetal have always been something oddly different being a metal band that focuses so much on their performance evident from their videos. At times I have felt guilty liking them since discovering, but tonight as they prepare to grace the stage, it will ultimately lead to a decision as whether or not they fall into the metal genre and can pass as contenders for a metal act.

There is no support act tonight, and the house lights dim to a high decibel of excitement and ‘Babymetal’ chanting. A projection of a short film is displayed on the stage curtain purveying how the ‘Big Fox’ has chosen the three young girls of ‘Babymetal’ to unite the world in heavy metal, and as that wraps up the curtain drops and the three girls storm on stage to the sound of ‘Babymetal Death’, with the live ‘Kami Band’, draped in corpse paint and white kimonos owning the music.

The first aspect that sat incredibly well was that the music was live, and the musicians were fantastic. All the musicians were unknown, but from the first song all of the instrumentalists demonstrated technical supremacy: the two guitarists were shredders sharing the duties between them and playing speedy harmonies in perfect sync, the bass played whipped out a glowing 6-string bass and played as if he was John Myung possessed and the drummer hit every note spot on no matter how fast or slow.

The girls performed their well-rehearsed dance routines to the likes of techno and dub infused ‘line!’ and ‘Uki Uki Midnight’, putting high energy in and getting a phenomenal crowd response. It was still just odd, seeing a fusion of dance and happy J-pop along with ripping metal that dominated the acoustics of the Forum – even above the synth-laden backing tracks, but it just worked – and the energy from the packed audience showed this.

Still even though the girls put in an excellent performance that was determined to win over European doubters, the highlight of the show was the musicianship demonstrated by the 4 instrumentalists. Instrumental tracks were creatively used to fill in the void between songs while the girls took a rest, and the progressive excellence of these tracks was jaw-dropping with each musician taking turns to drop a mind-blowing solo.

The music stole the show with brilliant performances of the djent inspired ‘Akumu no Rondo’ and the heavy ‘Doki Doki Morning’, with each choreographed routine performed by Su-metal, Yuimetal and Moametal adding to the unique value of this show.

Needless to say this was a very surprising show. Going in thinking this was just going to another novelty J-pop act brought to the stage to the accomplice of backing tracks, glitter and erratic bright lights, this was serious business. Babymetal were here to play metal, and metal they played. The concert goers ranging from the seasoned metalhead to the just plain curious were all left stunned and impressed.

No it’s not a joke. It was that good.