Babymetal is set to release their concept studio album “The Other One” on Friday and the hype is pretty good. A major tour of Asia has been announced (and it includes Arenas, even in Australia), loads of attention through recently released videos (the stripped down piano/strings version of “Monochrome” alone at the First Take Channel has notched up 2,500,000 views in just nine days) and traditional rock media like Metal Hammer and Kerrang! in the UK still support them strongly. Even the grumpy Classic Rock admits in their review in the latest issue (312, Deep Purple on the cover) that they enjoy Babymetal, “This is the maturing of cute metal, and it´s still nuts” (8/10). Babymetal will never give hundreds of interviews, they will give maybe 20 or 30 for an entire album cycle, and that is it. But that is enough, the information is picked up by major fans and translated into major languages. They tend to focus on the live performances, and that side is hard work. It is interesting that we now know that the year long break that they had recently, was planned five years ago, even before Yuimetal left. The intention before the break was to give it everything they could for 10 years, and to step away and rethink at that point. Su-metal and Moametal could have ended it when Yuimetal left though, but decided to carry on. Now they are back and they are back because they want to do this. It is quite interesting that the current Babymetal lore points to the addition of a new official third member on Fox Day (April 1) when they perform in Japan live again (two concerts, great opportunity to get the word out in a big way just in time for the Sabaton tour). Also, big festivals coming up in the summer months and my guess is that they will add a Stateside tour alongside some of these to cover that market. Interestingly, Su-metal and Moametal has talked about artists that they like in recent interviews (like in the recent issue of PMC in Japan), and Su has mentioned SheWolf and Moa is into Måneskin. Usually what happens when they mention artists is that a good chunk of the hardcore Babymetal fanbase checks them out. But it could lead to more down the road. Only the Fox God knows. You can find an excellent translation of the brand new PMC interview on the Steven Says Stuff blog (it can be easily found through the Babymetal reddit page as well, and as I write this I discover that he has just added another interview from said magazine with Babymetal mastermind Kobametal!). Wonderful interviews. Great example of how active the fans are, there is probably nothing like it on the rock scene these days. The support is spectacular. And positive. I like that.
(All images from official platforms, recent album covers from SheWolf and Måneskin inserted, also PMC issue 27)
…
trinkelbonker 