{"id":99868,"date":"2025-08-08T09:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T08:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=99868"},"modified":"2025-08-07T22:54:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T21:54:24","slug":"review-babymetal-metal-forth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-babymetal-metal-forth\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: BabyMetal &#8211; Metal Forth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s safe to say the stigma of\u00a0<strong>BabyMetal<\/strong> being a novelty act has firmly disappeared. However, as they return with their fifth album, <em>&#8216;etal Forth,&#8217;<\/em> you have to wonder why they&#8217;ve leaned into a wealth of collaborations. Nevertheless, it&#8217;s far from a stylistic departure as the trio maintains the kawaii metal sound that has taken them all over the world.<\/p>\n<p>The cast of cameos is impressive.\u00a0<strong>Poppy<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Spiritbox<\/strong>, <strong>Tom Morello<\/strong>, <strong>Electric Callboy<\/strong>, <strong>Polyphia<\/strong>, <strong>Slaughter To Prevail<\/strong>, and\u00a0<strong>Bloodywood<\/strong> bring their respective sound to the table, yet\u00a0<strong>BabyMetal<\/strong> never sacrifice their foundations. However, some work seamlessly better than some.\u00a0<em>&#8216;From me to u&#8217;<\/em> (featuring\u00a0<strong>Poppy<\/strong>) and <em>&#8216;My Queen&#8217;<\/em> (<strong>Spiritbox<\/strong>) see the trio complement their collaborators with ease. On the former, <strong>Poppy<\/strong> comes off as an unofficial fourth member, partly due to Jordan Fish&#8217;s production work. Whereas\u00a0<em>&#8216;My Queen&#8217;<\/em> bubbles with industrial rage, showcasing Su-metal\u2019s vocal prowess before Courtney LaPlante ramps up the aggression.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"BABYMETAL - from me to u feat. Poppy (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qayP_YUrf9I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;Song 3&#8217;<\/em> with Russian deathcore titans\u00a0<strong>Slaughter To Prevail<\/strong> sees the contrasting clash of Alex Terrible&#8217;s menacing voice and\u00a0<strong>BabyMetal<\/strong>&#8216;s kawaii metal harmonies. It&#8217;s a jarring offering that doesn&#8217;t have the desired effect. The same can&#8217;t be said for\u00a0<em>&#8216;Kon!<\/em> Kon!&#8217;, their second collaboration with Indian metallers\u00a0<strong>Bloodywood<\/strong>. The former&#8217;s colourful brand of nu metal bounces off\u00a0<strong>BabyMetal<\/strong>&#8216;s playful harmonies.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;Metal Forth&#8217;<\/em> allows\u00a0<strong>BabyMetal<\/strong> to explore and jump between sounds. Whether that&#8217;s technical djent on the summery <em>&#8216;Sunset Kiss&#8217;<\/em> with\u00a0<strong>Polyphia<\/strong>, infectious party metal with\u00a0<strong>Electric Callboy<\/strong> on\u00a0<em>&#8216;RATATATA&#8217;<\/em>, or the hip-hop-infusion found on\u00a0<em>&#8216;KxAxWxAxIxI&#8217;<\/em>. The latter is one of three tracks without collaborators. Alongside <em>&#8216;Algorism&#8217;\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<em>&#8216;White Flame \u2013 \u767d\u708e \u2013,&#8217;\u00a0<\/em>the trio of songs serve as a reminder of how technically proficient and powerful the Kami Band (<strong>BabyMetal<\/strong>&#8216;s backing band) can be.<\/p>\n<p>If anything, they&#8217;re the anonymous heroes of\u00a0<strong>BabyMetal<\/strong>&#8216;s success. While lead vocalist Su-metal, along with Moametal and their relatively newcomer, Momometal, take charge of soaring hooks and crystaline melodies, the Kami band are bringing assured ferociousness to the party.<\/p>\n<p>With a hefty amount of assistance, <strong>BabyMetal<\/strong> do their best to capture how diverse and varied metal is in 2025. It&#8217;s not always effective, and the sheer number of guests on board is equally a hindrance and a benefit to the trio. Nevertheless,\u00a0<em>&#8216;Metal Forth&#8217;\u00a0<\/em>is a digestible record that achieves its intentions.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;Metal Forth&#8217;\u00a0<\/em>by\u00a0<strong>BabyMetal<\/strong> is out now on\u00a0<strong>Capitol<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Find\u00a0<strong>BabyMetal<\/strong> on: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BABYMETAL.jp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BABYMETAL_JAPAN\">X (Formerly Twitter)<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/babymetal_official\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@babymetal_japan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TikTok<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/630wzNP2OL7fl4Xl0GnMWq?si=j0f_-JgTRmeNh8ukD64SZA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/gb\/artist\/babymetal\/477101776\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Music<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/babymetal.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embracing metal\u2019s 2025 spectrum, BabyMetal&#8217;s collaboration-heavy return manages to feel both chaotic and comfortably on-brand<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2502],"class_list":["post-99868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-babymetal"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: BabyMetal - Metal Forth - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From djent to nu-metal and hip-hop, BabyMetal\u2019s &#039;Metal Forth&#039; 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