A brief peek into METALVERSE

A surprise fancam drop of METALVERSE (don't call them CHIBIMETAL any more) performing at SummerSonic 2023 in Tokyo, presumably last night. Not three, but five members performing a three song set. The good news is that they present original music, and while the lore goes that they are an alternate universe version of BABYMETAL, thankfully they look and sound somewhat different from their renowned predecessors instead of being a carbon copy.

This performance shows METALVERSE has quite a task ahead of them to emerge from the immense shadow that their older sisters have cast. The major advantage BABYMETAL had starting out was the WTF factor in the fusion of metal, pop, choreography, the age of the performers, the other genres of music that got blended in the production studio like no one knew what they were doing. Yet the end product turned out to be a beautiful miracle rather than the disaster it could have been. BABYMETAL was a fusion of Frankenstein monster parts, but it was cared for, nurtured lovingly, allowed to grow with a life of its own, and eventually become its own thing that captured the imagination of the world.

METALVERSE's version of fusion metal looks like its been put together by people who have learned from their past experiments, and now know what they are doing. The production is slick and professional (other than being viewed on fancam footage), it's well rehearsed and delivers strongly in musicality and choreography. And that's the problem: second child syndrome. It lacks an edge from the risk that the whole thing could fall flat on its face, which would have made us appreciate the effort, commitment, work ethic, and belief that the entire production crew put into making a show that shouldn't work work. 

METALVERSE works right out of the box. The production looks effortless and by-the-numbers. It feels designed not to fail, so it's missing out on the underdog status that gets a crowd behind tiny but dedicated heroes giving their all to accomplish a nigh impossible task. Without having much to root for, the crowd sounded a bit passive when lead singer, Miko, tried to engage them in the third song. Also, her call was asking for a bit more sophistry than the audience was prepared to give. Had the response been more intuitively and organically baked into the music, the audience might have been more inclined to jump in.

There is nothing bad in this performance -- it was actually quite enjoyable. But at the same time, it looked and felt like everything was done for me, and so, having little else to contribute to the show beyond my applause, I was happy to just sit back and soak it in.

Still, this is only a little taste of what METALVERSE can do. We'll get a much better picture once they make their official debut in Tokyo on 24 August. Still hoping there's room for crazy.