In 2014, I found Babymetal. My friend forwarded me a link to their “Megitsune” video, and I was instantly hooked. Along with the link, he had typed something like: “Hey, I think I found your new favorite band!” Well, he was more right than he knew! After the Megitsune video I found their Gimme Choco video. Getting into Babymetal’s debut album in 2014 was very similar to my 1986 experience of getting into Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All. It was in re-invention of sound, and a re-introduction to music.

As you are aware, I had kind of lost track of Clutch maybe around 2003 or 2004 or so. I was a busy with life, trying to write and play music in metal bands, and I was taking different dives into other areas of metal. There were some good bands that came about that I thought would become “my thing” but didn’t. Napalm Death (their newer stuff), Dimmu Borgir, Strapping Young Lad, Dethklok (that cartoon band). The last album I was really into by any band before I found Babymetal was Vader’s Necropolis album. (Which is a fantastic album.)

Babymetal turned my life upside down. They are my most favorite band right now. In fact, I don’t foresee any other band taking over their spot as my #1 favorite band. I don’t think I’ve felt more “religious” about a band than I do Babymetal. Having said that, you can probably guess that it’s impossible for me to be unbiased when talking about Babymetal. Which is true. I can really only talk about Babymetal with other Babymetal fans. If you’re not into Babymetal or you don’t like Babymetal(?!), then Babymetal is like a whole zone of conversation you should just avoid with me. If you’re not into it, you’re not into it, so there’s nothing to talk about. Being into Babymetal as much as I am, I have a greater understanding for others who have a similar “religious” type of connection to a band that I’m not into. Actually, the understanding is that I don’t have to understand those people, I just have to accept where they’re at and move on. Lol, so that’s where I prefer the non-Babymetal fans to be in my life. Sure it helps if you understand, but I’m not asking anyone to understand.

I once tried to write a review of Babymetal that was honest. I have decided maybe the best place for that article is on my computer. I don’t think constant gushing about how awesome I think a band is counts to the rest of the world as “being honest.”

I really love this band. I will follow Babymetal to the ends of the earth. They have three albums now, and I love them all. I have joined their fan club. Actually, they have recently changed their fan club to a new fan club and I have joined that fan club too.

Because of Babymetal, I have taken Japanese language classes. I still study Japanese and see a tutor online every week. I visited Japan by myself in 2019. I have searched for, and found, more Japanese metal and Japanese music that I love.

So, this website isn’t meant to be a “Babymetal fan site.” So I want to reiterate the purpose of this article isn’t to tell you about Babymetal facts and Babymetal news that you can already get from other sources. Plus there’s so many sites out there that are already doing this extremely well. This article is to tell you that this band has impacted me, and how this band has impacted me.

I have seen Babymetal in concert five times. At the Fonda in Hollywood. At the Wiltern in Hollywood. At the Palladium in Hollywood. At the amphitheater-that-keeps-changing-its-name in Chula Vista. And at the Forum in Inglewood (Los Angeles). I have moshed like a madman to Babymetal. I wish I had gone to more Babymetal concerts and bought airline tickets to see them in additional cities. I know people that have traveled to see Babymetal, and have seen them about 15 times or more. You can’t walk into my home without seeing Babymetal posters, flags, and pictures. I wear Babymetal t-shirts and sweatshirts a lot. I think you get the idea. This is my band!

That said… as you know I play metal music and am a metal musician. Babymetal is a band that I can’t really say counts as a “musical influence” on me. That can’t be said unless I move to Japan and start a metal band with one or more Japanese female singers. So it’s not exactly possible for Babymetal to be a musical influence on me until I deliberately want to produce a Japanese heavy metal sound. I suppose you could say I want to be metal-awesome like Babymetal, but that’s too ambiguous. Or maybe Babymetal has a philosophical influence on how I approach music. But again, that’s too ambiguous. Maybe if I wanted to depart from “dirty vocals” being in my band and have “clean vocals” in my band that could get into the realm of musical influence. But even then, not really. In a way, maybe this is the magic of Babymetal is that they are some kind of beautiful metal flower that I could never emulate or duplicate.

Obviously I’m in love with Su-Metal. Obviously I love Moa-Metal and Yui-Metal (even though Yui-chan has left the band). You don’t have to ask me these questions. There are certain things you can just assume.

Just to be a little weird in this article, I’ll say one thing Su-Metal and Neil Fallon have in common is conviction. Whatever they’re singing, the listener comes away believing it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand Japanese, lol, you’re a believer. That’s how I feel about it.

You can expect more articles featuring Babymetal on this site, and you can expect articles featuring Japanese metal bands on this site.