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- April 4, 2023
BABYMETAL Releases Another Kawaii Metal Album “The Other One”
Japanese metal band BABYMETAL have released their first concept album THE OTHER ONE and along with it the official lyric video for “Mirror Mirror.” Last year BABYMETAL were “sealed” from the world after a successful 10-year journey. In April 2022, THE OTHER ONE restoration project began to recover the BABYMETAL we never knew existed within a virtual world called the METALVERSE. A total of 10 songs have been discovered within THE OTHER ONE restoration project, with each song representing a unique theme based on 10 separate parallel worlds that they have discovered. One of the discovered 10 parallel worlds is MIRROR and their focus track “Mirror Mirror” centers around this theme. Mirror, mirror on the wall…this song embodies a parallel world where the world inside the mirror and the world of reality go back and forth. Is what you see in the mirror your true self or the self you wish to be?
BABYMETAL is preparing for their next upcoming performance on April 1st and 2nd at PIA ARENA MM. Their 1st day is named BLACK NIGHT and their 2nd day is named CLEAR NIGHT. At their previous show, they conveyed that together with the departure into a new world, a new metal will be born. After these shows in Japan, they will be supporting Sabaton on their UK & Europe tour in April and May. And from May onward, BABYMETAL will embark on their BABYMETAL WORLD TOUR 2023 in which they will headline for the first time in Asia as well as Australia.
Immediately “Metal Kingdom” establishes a stately, grown-up BABYMETAL. It begins with what sounds like ticking, as if counting down the entrance to this new era for the band. It’s booming sound, soaring orchestrals and power metal sound makes for a strong intro song for this album. . This song is what we’ve come to expect with BABYMETAL, though delivered at a more mid-pace than before. While it doesn’t need to be almost six minutes long, it’s a bold intro in this new era.
“The time has come, stand up!” and head bang along to the mind busting song, “Divine Attack – Shingeki -”. With a heavy bass and drums and soaring chorus, it hits with a punk-like sound and energy that lives up to the song’s title. Now my absolute favorite track from this is easily “Mirror Mirror”. From it’s catchy lighthearted chorus to it’s experiments with various vocal stylings, extra electronics, phasing and other effects at the right times, it makes for quite the “kawaii”(cute) metal song. This track is also one of the few essentially all English-language songs on the album. The track is followed by “MAYA”, a modern rock song that also has a memorable chorus and amazing guitar and drum solos. “Time Wave,” offers a fist-pumping beat with some pop elements with an electronic bridge. The vocals also have an interesting chopped-up effect that makes for an interesting sound.
How would you know the difference between the virtual world and the real world?
Maybe what you see with your eyes is all an illusion.-BABYMETAL
“Believing” is an elevating and anthemic hard-rock tune that mixes pop with robotic-sounding vocals. The piercing electronic harmonies of “Metalizm” is filled with theatrics that sound straight from a Final Fantasy soundtrack. It’s both vicious and vibrant, with some different styled guitar riffs and synths thrown in. Speed-metal meets rock in “Monochrome” that has an infectious melody with it’s “ooh-a-oohs” and vivid sounding guitar. Songs like “Light and Darkness” are the more poppier tracks that surge with energy through the vocals and again remind me of a video game soundtrack. The album closes with “The Legend,” that ties together BABYMETAL’s heavy riffs and magical mid-tempo pop verses.
Whether it’s in Japanese or English, the light hearted vocals catch your attention and you can’t help but try and sing along. BABYMETAL is definitely not a ‘baby’ anymore after hearing this album and with the band members now nearing their mid to late twenties, it’s no surprise that after four years since METAL GALAXY, and their 2020 debut song with Bring Me The Horizon, they have matured in sound and taken quite the steps forward into making their name big again in the metal and J-pop community alike. Make sure to stream THE OTHER ONE on all listing platforms HERE and don’t forget to watch the official lyric video for “Mirror Mirror” on YouTube!
