Reaching Adulthood in a Mature Way - A Review of Babymetal's The Other One

Japanese kawaii metal sensation Babymetal has been going through massive changes since the release of its previous studio record Metal Galaxy. The band had to cancel numerous concerts due regional crises and the ongoing pandemic. The group released its first compilation in ten different versions. Babymetal then published a cryptic message and took a prolonged break, leaving fans scratching their heads and wondering whether this was just a hiatus or the end for the most unique metal band of the past decade.

As things have turned out, Babymetal has come back with a bang, presenting a new conceptual record with ten songs and a total running time of forty-one minutes. This release was accompanied by numerous teasers, music videos and concert announcements throughout the world. Things continue to evolve even beyond the release of the new record since regular collaborator Okazaki Momoko has now become the official third member of the band.

New album The Other One is a significant step in the right direction after chaotic predecessor Metal Galaxy that turned out to be a double-album overloaded with numerous guest appearances. This new album showcases a coherent industrial metal style focused on Nakamoto Suzuka's much-matured lead vocals and Kikuchi Moa's more melodic backing vocals. This record's mixture of dynamic contemporary metal sounds and catchy danceable passages recalls several contemporary female-fronted metal bands from all around the world such as Metalite, Beast in Black and Battle Beast to only name a few. Gone are weird lyrical topics about eating chocolate. There are no more unchained screams by female teenagers. We also have a lack of extreme metal grunts from the backing band. There are no noteworthy guest vocalists or musicians. Weird genre changes from idol pop to power metal over hip hop to melodic death metal within four minutes are a thing of the past. Babymetal have grown up like most of their fans have throughout the past decade.

Once you are open to discover the band's new style, identity and genre, you are going to explore a good to very good record that is much better than Metal Galaxy without hitting the high marks of Metal Resistance and the eponymous Babymetal. Highlights include epic, melodic and playful opener ''Metal Kingdom'' that sounds much shorter than its running time of six minutes. First single ''Divine Attack (Shingeki)'' finds the perfect balance between the band's catchy, danceable and melodious contemporary trance pop side and the group's dynamic, energetic and rhythmic industrial metal soundscapes. ''Metalizm'' invites listeners let off some steam on the dance floor with its infectious beats and robotic vocals that meet some well-dosed Middle Eastern folk sounds and a perfectly interwoven playful heavy metal guitar solo. ''Light and Darkness'' is the greatest unapologetic pop song on this album that showcases Nakamoto Suzuka's angelic vocals best and should appeal to a wide audience. ''The Legend'' makes the best use of new wave and trance sounds that sound equally nostalgic as they hearken back to pop sounds from the eighties that have recently been popularized by television series Stranger Things and futuristic as the song has a wonderfully enigmatic, eerie and explorative vibe where even a saxophone solo blends in perfectly.

As you can read, this album has numerous benefits. The coherent genre mixture of trance pop and industrial metal makes for the band's most coherent release to date. The airy, organic and timeless production blends in wonderfully. The record's focus is on lead singer Nakamoto Suzuka's skillful performance and Kikuchi Moa's matured backing chants.

This album however isn't without its flaws to be perfectly honest. The vocals sound unnecessarily processed and use too much auto-tune. The songwriting fails to deliver a unique song that truly stands out and could heroically stand the test of time. The different songs furthermore sound a little bit too similar to one another and this release certainly needs a few spins to grow.

At the end of the day, fans of old and new date should give Babymetal's The Other One the time it deserves to grow on them. This album convinces with a brave new stylistic direction combining trance pop and industrial metal. The record focuses on the strengths of the two singers and avoids unnecessary guest musicians and vocalists. The final result represents a group that has matured and found its very own identity which should represent the majority of its millions of fans from all around the world. This album could be the start of an exciting new era as Babymetal sounds fearless, focused and fresh.

Final rating: 75%