Ryan Murray | Co-Owner | Chief Editor | Contributor | Photographer
r.m.music84@gmail.com
It’s wild to think that BABYMETAL have now been bending reality for 15 years. What started as a genre-defying curiosity has solidified into a full-fledged institution—one that, despite its chaos and contradictions, has always had a surprisingly focused mission: blow the walls off metal, rewire the rules, and do it all with synchronized dancing, face-melting riffs, and a wink. Metal Forth, their fourth full-length album and first under Capitol Records, isn’t just an extension of that legacy—it’s a statement of scope, ambition, and, depending on where you’re standing, either creative freedom or brand overload.
There’s no getting around the elephant in the studio: this album is absolutely stacked with guest features. Seven out of ten tracks include outside artists, and on first glance, the lineup reads like someone accidentally merged three festival bills into one: Spiritbox, Slaughter to Prevail, Electric Callboy, Polyphia, Bloodywood, Tom Morello, and Poppy. It’s impressive—but also a little disorienting. Sometimes the collisions are electric. Other times, they feel more like corporate matchmaking than true creative chemistry. It leaves the listener constantly asking: whose album is this, exactly?
And yet, when Metal Forth is on, it’s on. There’s an undeniable rush to hearing BABYMETAL and Poppy go full glitch-pop-industrial mayhem on “from me to u,” opening the record with adrenaline and total disregard for subtlety. That chaotic energy continues in waves—sometimes erupting in the full-throttle absurdity of “RATATATA,” other times weaving into more refined territory, like the beautifully aggressive “My Queen” with Spiritbox, or the sparkling-meets-shredding weirdness of “Sunset Kiss” with Polyphia. These are moments where the collaborations feel earned—where the band’s voice isn’t drowned out, but multiplied.
Still, there’s a stretch where the novelty starts to creak. “Song 3” pushes BABYMETAL’s penchant for contrast to its limit, placing Alex Terrible’s deathcore bellows up against their saccharine charm. It’s bold—but it borders on cartoonish, and not always in a fun way. Likewise, “KxAxWxAxIxI” feels like a stylistic experiment that never quite gets off the ground. There’s something intriguing about its hip-hop-inflected swagger and drop-tuned riff work, but it leans too heavily on repetition, as if it’s trying to hypnotize instead of evolve.
Thankfully, there are recalibration points—flashes of clarity where the storm settles, and the heart of BABYMETAL pulses through unfiltered. “Algorism” is one of them, channeling their signature blend of triumphant melodies and riff-heavy bombast with just the right amount of sparkle. It’s followed later by “White Flame –白炎–,” which, quite frankly, rips. It’s the most traditionally “metal” moment on the record, evoking DragonForce-style speed and sweep-picking wizardry without losing the group’s playful spirit. These tracks serve as a reminder: even in the middle of a genre orgy, BABYMETAL still know how to steal the spotlight all on their own.
Even the more questionable decisions are smoothed over by the album’s sheer confidence. “Kon! Kon!” featuring Bloodywood sounds like a cultural head-on collision, yet somehow sticks the landing through sheer conviction. And Tom Morello’s cameo on “METALI!!” might scream “Why not?” on paper, but in execution, it slides in shockingly well—his siren-scratched guitar licks nestling comfortably into BABYMETAL’s bizarro groove.
What’s most interesting about Metal Forth is that it plays like both a celebration and a challenge. It’s a celebration of their reach—how many corners of heavy music now welcome them without hesitation. But it’s also a challenge to their identity. This is the first BABYMETAL album where you might come away remembering the features more than the band. That’s not to say they’ve been overshadowed, but it’s a valid question: at what point does collaboration blur into dependency?
Still, if the intention was to keep us guessing, it’s mission accomplished. Metal Forth is dizzying, uneven, and sometimes ridiculous—but also thrilling, ambitious, and often deeply fun. It proves that BABYMETAL are still evolving, still making choices no other band would dare attempt. And if some of those choices stumble? So be it. Better that than stagnation.
After 15 years of pushing against the grain, BABYMETAL aren’t trying to fit into metal anymore. They’re asking metal to fit into them.
VERDICT: 4.0/5.0
Ethereal Metal 
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