Japanese kawaii metal band BABYMETAL is back with their new album, METAL FORTH. It’s been a short two years since the group comprised of SU-METAL, MOAMETAL, and MOMOMETAL released their last album THE OTHER ONE in 2023. Quick turnarounds are nothing new for the incredibly productive trio which has now produced five studio albums in only eleven years beginning with their 2014 self-titled debut BABYMETAL.
Similar to 2019’s METAL GALAXY, the new album is filled with collabs with a diverse group of artists including Poppy, Electric Callboy, Slaughter to Prevail, Bloodywood, Polyphia, Spiritbox, and Tom Morello. This lineup injects a sonically dynamic blend to the album featuring a mixture of metalcore, electronicore, deathcore, progressive rock, and nu metal.
METAL FORTH jumps off to a fast start with the opening track “from me to u (feat. Poppy)”. The song is a tug of war between SU-METAL’s melodic vocals which are countered by Poppy’s screaming vocals. It instantly became my favorite song of 2025 for a grand total of 3 minutes until the next song.
The opening track started so strong that I thought there was nowhere for the album to go but down until one song later when “RATATATA” (with Electric Callboy) hit my ears, and I was like holy crap. This was my first time hearing Electric Callboy and it totally caught me off guard. As good as the dynamics were in “from me to u”, they were even better in “RATATATA”. The transition from Electric Callboy’s combination of techno and metalcore to BABYMETAL’S catchy J-Pop vocals was amazing. This was hands down the most enjoyable song of the album.
The mood darkened with next two songs. “Song 3” is another battle with Slaughter To Prevail ascending from the depths of hell to challenge BABYMETALS’s heavenly choruses. Their deathcore vocals were brutal making this the heaviest track on the album. Close behind in the heavy category is “Kon! Kon!” featuring Bloodywood who inject some nu metal into the mix. The Indian trio even manages to throw in some Hindi vocals.
The band catches their breath on the next two tracks. “KxAxWxAxIxI” is one of the three collaboration-free songs on the album. It only takes the first two seconds to figure out that Polyphia is the collab artist on “Sunset Kiss”. Tim Henson and Scott LePage’s guitars temporarily takes METAL FORTH in a different direction with their lighter, progressive metal sound.
After the short two-song interlude, METAL FORTH gets heavy again with Spiritbox joining the fray on “My Queen”. Courtney LaPlante competes with Poppy for the album’s best screams. Who won the contest? I’ll let you decide.
“Algorism” is the album’s second collab free song. A typical day for me consists of 6 hours of sleep, 2 hours of work, and 14 hours of manga and anime (except for the 8 hours to write this article..haha). The sound and speed of this song would make it perfect for the opening credits of a Shonen anime. So, theme song or not, it’s getting added it to my anime playlist.
The album closes with “METALI!!” (feat. Tom Morello) and “White Flame”. “METALI!!” has a traditional Japanese music vibe with Tom Morello’s unique guitar style thrown in at the end. BABYMETAL expends their last amount of energy with “White Flame” and sprints to the finish to close out METAL FORTH the way they started.
There’s a reason the band’s title, member names, and albums are all capitalized. They all shout energy and METAL FORTH is no exception. It’s unique collection of collaborators makes it impossible to lose interest as you progress through the album. The interaction of different metal genres fused with the band’s K-pop vocals adds new dimensions to their existing kawaii metal sound.
Today’s stock market is highly volatile with tough decisions on whether to buy, sell, or hold. However, in the music market with a vast array of streaming options there are some decisions that are no brainers. Like NVIDA stock, METAL FORTH by BABYMETAL is a definite buy that will pay dividends for music listeners for years to come.
METAL FORTH Track list:
1. from me to u (feat. Poppy)
2. RATATATA (BABYMETAL x Electric Callboy)
3. Song 3 (BABYMETAL x Slaughter to Prevail)
4. Kon! Kon! (feat. Bloodywood)
5. KxAxWxAxIxI
6. Sunset Kiss (feat. Polyphia)
7. My Queen (feat. Spiritbox)
8. Algorism
9. METALI!! (feat. Tom Morello)
10. White Flame ????
Follow BABYMETAL:
METAL FORTH Official Website (merch and tickets)
www.metalforth.com
BABYMETAL Official Website
http://www.babymetal.com
BABYMETAL Official Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/BABYMETAL.jp
BABYMETAL Official Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/babymetal_official
BABYMETAL Official Twitter
https://twitter.com/BABYMETAL_JAPAN
BABYMETAL Official TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@babymetal_japan
BABYMETAL Official LINE
https://lin.ee/2NfjXC8
Post by Scott Raymer (Website | Instagram | Facebook)
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