Metalizm (Official) by BABYMETAL: video first impression

Well, the official video for 'Metalizm' dropped today, taking me by surprise. This song is featured in BABYMETAL's latest album, 'The Other One'. It's clear the band has taken a whole new aesthetic and approach to their performances. No longer banking on kawaii, the focus seems to be more on creating this dynamic art form with all the talent they've developed over the years they've been performing.

I feel this art form to be unfortunately limited by the 2 dimensional medium of video it is presented in. This piece of work was designed to be more immersive than just the flat screen I'm watching it on. But the technology needed to fully appreciate this piece either hasn't been invented yet, or is simply as yet unaffordable. The best I could probably do is to strap on an Oculus headset to see and feel the swirling colours and rhythms everywhere I look instead of just straight ahead.

The song itself is hypnotic, trance-inducing. The pace of the music is somewhat slower, less frantic than many of their other songs, while the vocals are calmer, and (dare I say) designed not to test SU's range. In fact, from a quick glance at the translated lyrics, they remind me of descriptions of rather dramatic manga panels -- metal knights and metal kings in flight, bringing hope and light to the world.

The dance is full of sharp angles, perfectly synchronised, as always, creating beautiful patterns with the trio moving together, intricate yet powerful. What I see are depictions of the edginess of metal in the midst of swirling flames. The action to me is more reminiscent of forging rather than fighting, with the rhythmic pounding of hammer on anvil, and not the sharp clash of swords.

Perhaps this song is intended as a sort of palate cleanser within the concert repertoire. An item for a change of pace, and possibly a moment to recharge energy before the next big set piece.

The songs in this new album clearly signal maturity. Their performances of the past were quite literal storytelling theatre pieces. I'm happy they've now gained the confidence to simply play with their unique 3-D, multi-sensory canvas, comfortable in creating more abstract art, and letting their music speak for itself.

The chocolate crisis

'Gimme Chocolate' is the song that BABYMETAL tends to be most associated with. Most people who first encounter the band from this song are immediately hit with cognitive dissonance and are unable to process what they are watching for a while. Sometimes longer.

It opens with a monstrous growl demanding chocolate followed by a wall of metal noise as drums and guitar smash into your face. Three little girls wearing striking red and black frilly skirts take centrestage in a frenzy of perfectly coordinated dance. Within seconds the mind has to cope with so much dichotomy of sight and sound, and then the girls bring in a vocal tone that runs freely and lightly against the backing music, so heavy and dark.

This band is all about dualities of things that obviously do not fit, yet these incongruous threads are woven together into a surprisingly wonderful never-experienced-before tapestry full of music, energy and fun.

Going by the translated lyrics, the song depicts this duality in the dilemma of craving chocolate, yet worrying about gaining weight. We see this dilemma also played out in their dance. MOA and YUI are the devil and angel attending to each side of SU. Their words are gibberish: One says 'dokyun' and the other, 'zokyun', so there's no way to tell which is 'good' and which is 'evil', but both are unhelpfully egging SU on to choose between them. Do it, or don't do it.

Their dance moves between checking themselves out for signs of weight gain -- pats to the waist and face, the one tiny butt wiggle, and the back lean, like they are imagining what a rotund belly might look and feel like; alternating with miming a chocolate box in their hand, so near, and yet so far. They constantly revisit the move where they alternately point to their own heads with opposite fingers, suggesting the constant struggle to choose between temptation and consequence.

The song's conclusion is so BABYMETAL: consequence be damned, they gleefully bite into the chocolate bonbon they have been denying themselves this whole time, no regrets. It's like realising that not every choice needs to be the crisis it's made out to be. Have a bit of chocolate, be happy, work hard. Life doesn't need to be more complicated than that.

Meet the band, the show, and the phenomenon that is BABYMETAL

We've seen the headliners of BABYMETAL perform with just their vocals in the previous two videos. But the true BABYMETAL experience is when they are commanding an entire arena, giving their all in a theatrical extravaganza. Yes, behind the trio that is the face of the band, there is an entire theatre company that puts the whole show together. From staging, lighting, and pyrotechnic design; to sound production; to camera work; to the incredibly talented metal band -- when they're playing for BABYMETAL, they're called the Kami band -- that drives the merciless metal machine powering the girls' relentless performance onstage; to the participation of the audience 10s of thousands strong; it looks like no expense is spared in making each show a cherished life experience that I wish I could buy a ticket to.

Probably the best intro to the phenomenon that is BABYMETAL is this performance of 'Headbanger!' This performance was in 2013 (the video was released in 2014) making SU-METAL 16 years old while MOAMETAL and YUIMETAL would be 14, assuming my math is correct.

The title of the song refers to the instinctive movement of nodding or bobbing one's head vigorously to a metal beat. Constantly innovating, BABYMETAL headbangs side-to-side instead of the usual up-and-down, and it's genius for the show. The girls get to keep their kawaii faces turned to the audience at all times. Even their hair is cut and pinned back such that it never covers their faces while headbanging. It's also a trademark move, unique to the band.

Small details like these keep the audience constantly engaged, with every stimulus designed to enrapture the senses of sight and sound, and even touch as sonic waves of this intensity are highly tactile as they pass though the body over and over again, often in rapid succession.

The lore of this song is a little confusing for me, but apparently, it's about a girl who has just turned 15 attending her first metal concert and either experiences a night she will remember forever, or a night that will never come again for her because it was so transcendent.

The performance itself features BABYMETAL's characteristic high energy dance delivered with precise synchronicity, but more importantly, with so much infectious joy from the girls who are living their best lives, doing what they were born to do. If only we could all be so blessed.

There is also a little extra bit thrown in at the end of the song that we didn't ask for but they generously gave, anyway, The girls are clearly, and understandably, very tired after all that running around, headbanging, giving their everything to the music and the dance. The audience would not begrudge them a rest, but instead they turn that rest time into high drama with the slow and painful ascent up the peak for SU to strike the gong, ending the song. It's not an Oscar-winning performance, but it's a way to get the audience involved and invested, cheering the girls on to complete this last important mission, while the girls themselves get a well earned breather.

One last thing: SU-METAL's death stare. So fierce.

A gentle introduction to BABYMETAL pt. 2

Moving slightly backwards in time, this video features SU-METAL and MOAMETAL as a duet. This being The First Take, the same rules apply. One take is all they get.

The song is 'Monochrome', featured on BABYMETAL's latest album, 'The Other One', released almost a month ago.

SU takes the spotlight, showcasing her crisp, controlled vocals. She isn't just singing, she's performing, putting full emotion into her powerful, piercing belts. Her voice catches in the exact same spot in the first two verses, like someone who is trying hard to hold it in, but can't. There's a cry in there but not a selfish, attention-seeking one. It's more personal, perhaps reflective of the loss of someone or something, or perhaps of certain sacrifices she might have made along the way. Without the metal backing, SU turns 'Monochrome' wistful and ethereal, and beautiful to listen to.

MOA plays the stoic in her facial expression and vocal tone. Her grounded supporting 'oh oh's give the song gravity, while SU's voice soars. Between these two opposing forces, my heart rent like string cheese on a pizza slice pulled upwards and away from its base, leaving me an emotional wreck the first few times I heard this version. Their official lyric video is beautiful too, but it didn't hit as hard in the feels.

Every BABYMETAL song is a sort of story. By the last verse, SU sings of accepting change and lets go (at least that's what I'm getting from the subtitles). Melancholy night turns to day full of promise and hope. Their songs are positive and uplifting, though in this new album, the songs are less playful, less full of youthful idealism. SU and MOA are, after all, young adults now, and their sensibilities have matured, as they should. Babies no longer, but they are still BABYMETAL.

A gentle introduction to BABYMETAL pt. 1

I'm seriously late to the party. The girls have grown up so much, being in the business for over 10 years now. Thankfully, they have some new material released within the past month which I can review, then perhaps consider how much further down the 'fox hole' I want to delve into.

First, some context. The band has been described as pioneering the 'kawaii metal' genre. The formula was clearly explosive, but the talent agency that put the band together just went with it. Take three super talented multiple-threat pre-teens and make them front a band comprising some of the best talents in Japanese hardcore metal, infusing the hard driving beats with the melodies of idol pop. While the band members themselves are mostly session musicians, a few have stayed with the group on a semi-permanent basis. The mainstays who give the band the name 'BABYMETAL' are SU-METAL (lead vocalist) and MOAMETAL who flanks the lead with supporting vocals and dance. The original third member, YUIMETAL took the other flank, but left a few years ago due to poor health. She was a solid and much revered foundational part of the band, and greatly missed by fans today.

This video (above) is atypical of their music. On The First Take music artists of stature perform with their voices alone, accompanied by a simple unplugged music backing  Here, performers leave their bands and choreography behind so that the audience can focus on just the vocal presentation in isolation -- and record that performance in a single take. (Edit: oops, no. The featured guest can arrange their performance however they want, but it's all shot in just one take).

The video above is entitled 'The One - Unfinished ver.' which is a tribute to their huge international fanbase collectively known as the One. It is 'unfinished' as it is only a snippet of the full version. This video is significant as it features one of the first recorded appearances of MOMOMETAL as the recently confirmed third member of the group, finally returning BABYMETAL to its original trio status. While SU-METAL still sings lead here, the focus seems to be on MOAMETAL and MOMOMETAL who provide a beautiful backing harmony which we seldom appreciate, lost as it often gets in the sound and fury of their usual full metal performances, packed with so much frenetic choreography and theatrical spectacle. Also because of the loss of YUIMETAL, MOA up to this point has had no consistent partner to harmonise with.

Like the title of the song, the two-part harmony indeed blends as one, like their voices were made for each other. This harmonic base provides SU-METAL a platform for her voice to soar as she belts out a song of affirmation and identity. On one hand it pulls in the fanbase for whom the song is written, but it also welcomes MOMOMETAL into the band with an anthem of sisterly solidarity. And perhaps the song is 'unfinished' to symbolize the beginning of a new journey for this trio of amazing vocal talent.

In part 2, we will review the previous First Take release, 'Monochrome - piano ver.' by BABYMETAL.