Why They Don't Write Their Own Songs, But Kill It Anyway

Love it or hate it, Babymetal are here to stay with their second album Metal Resistance. Those who derided the combination of metal and Japanese idol music as a fad have been proven inherently wrong by Babymetal's unrelenting momentum. While the project has been criticised — none of the onstage members (including the instrumental musicians) are primary songwriters in the band, the band undermines the hard-working underground metal community of metal musicians — it is clear that Babymetal just want to express and inspire with their music. 

Sure, the project could have been much so much cooler had vocalists Su-metal, Moametal and Yuimetal birthed the concept for Babymetal of their own accord. Yet Babymetal are less concerned with their formation, and more concerned with what's to come, insisting that this is only just the beginning and promising that the project will evolve as its members grow and learn more about the metal genre.

Lead singer Su-metal, aka Suzuka Nakamoto, says that "with the second album Metal Resistance we challenged ourselves to [try] many new genres that we have actually never done before… Even in the future, we are not going to stop here. We definitely want to explore music even further, and metal even further". Though not a crystal clear answer as to whether Babymetal will incorporate elements of black metal, doom or grindcore into their future sound, Metal Resistance is a technical leap above their self-titled debut, with later track Sis. Anger featuring a decidedly death metal intro, while Tales Of The Destinies is a progressive adventure.

"When I first started out in Babymetal that I had no idea what metal was. In fact at that time in my life I only thought of metal music as being loud and even a little bit scary."

Nakamoto has yet to contribute her own lyrics to Babymetal, and the reason behind this is endearing. As she describes in her own words; "It is true that when I first started out in Babymetal that I had no idea what metal was. In fact at that time in my life I only thought of metal music as being loud and even a little bit scary. Now that we are exposed to metal, all forms of metal, my perspective on metal has really changed. In fact I feel that metal is a type of music that is very much easier to get into than expected. I do think that writing something would be interesting, but at the same time I feel that I don't know metal enough to be able to go to that step just yet. I have to learn more about metal before I can take on the reigns of a composer or a lyricist."

Fortunately, she says, "Yuimetal and Moametal, the other two members of Babymetal, they actually have written some songs and lyrics before. It must be that they enjoy doing it because sometimes when we are travelling together for example the two of them will be writing or humming a song or a tune and it always ends up being very catchy and something that sticks into your head. They are probably more interested in writing the music." For Nakamoto: "I am already taking on a very big role in just trying to develop the song or convey the song when I am on stage. I am having a lot fun just doing that so at this time my focus is all on that."

The way Nakamoto's perspective on metal has changed has become a major theme of the new album. "Metal music is something that actually hits you in the heart." she says, "It has a very strong image. Metal music as a whole is very powerful, in fact it's not like people say that it's very depressing or anything, in fact I feel that metal music helps you to move forward in whatever you do. It's also very motivating at times." Nakamoto goes on to further explain this theme: "The lyrics are very positive, there's a lot of things that can be very motivating to the listener, for example even for ourselves. In particular, the song Road Of Resistance, the lyrics speak about going through uncharted paths in life, exploring unknown territories and believing in yourself… It really reflects what we were doing last year on our world tour for example, trying out different things and experimenting with different genres of music."

Metal Resistance also features the first English language performance in a Babymetal song. For Nakamoto, The One was the most difficult song to lay down in the recording sessions, but subsequently became the song she is the proudest of on the record. "The One is the first song I have performed in English so it was not very easy for me," begins Nakamoto. "I am now studying English, but I realised how difficult it is when you are trying to enunciate something in song versus when you're speaking. I had to go through training but this will be the first song that's all in English, which means that it's also the first song that all the fans will be able to understand. I can't wait for the fans to listen to the song and I can't wait for people to listen to the message that is within the song."

Although effort is clearly being made to make a stronger connection with international fans, Nakamoto does not feel this will disassociate Babymetal from their roots, elaborating that "for now Japanese lyrics are obviously very important for us as well because that's who we are, but it doesn't mean that we will never sing in English again and, you know, when the opportunity arises definitely that's something that could be in the books for us as well". In fact, while the majority of the record was recorded in Japan, some of the opus was laid down in Australia. "When I was in Australia I was stuck in the studio the whole time and didn't really see much." says Nakamoto of her trip Down Under. "I managed to walk around a little bit in the city but really that was it. I hope to be able to come back again, perhaps on a tour, maybe in the future." Though largely all work and no play, Nakamoto describes the highlight of the entire recording process as celebrating her birthday in Australia. "I celebrated my birthday [in Australia], because I was abroad it was the first time I was presented with cupcakes as my birthday cake instead of a proper cake. That was really fun for me, I thought, celebrating my birthday in the studio."