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Babymetal Nabs Spot At This Years Sonisphere Festival

By David Dunford
Published on: 16:57 PST, Apr 9, 2014

What do you get when you cross Japanese pop, Skrillex-styled dubstep and bone-grinding heavy metal? Normally the answer would be “a headache,” but in the case of the band Babymetal, it’s an amazing journey guaranteed to leave you in awe. But as the Babymetal trend begins to hit American shores, some wonder just what the Japanese are attacking us with this time.

Babymetal is the creation of Kobametal, the band’s producer, who was trying to cement a new sound that pulled bits and pieces from all areas of music into one cohesive style. He loved the power and drive behind metal music and wondered if he could somehow make it more mainstream and pleasurable to a wider audience. Having produced “kawaii,” or cute, music which you hear in your average anime cartoon, Kobametal blended everything he knew into what he hoped would be a masterpiece.

That moment came when he hired three junior-high aged girls for the job. Suzuka Nakamoto, Moa Kikuchi and Yui Mizuno knew nothing about the metal genre when they first entered the studio, but all they needed was a little push in the right direction and everything fell into place. When the band’s first indie CD single, “BabyMetal × Kiba of Akiba”, hit the shelves, it became an instant hit, rising to number one on Tower Records Shibuya weekly indie ranking. That is when the world began to take notice of them.

The fast-paced music and stunning light show was but a mild distraction from the trio whose ability to draw in crowds and leave them slack-jawed followed them wherever they went. By 2012 they had acquired a spot at the Summer Sonic Rock Festival in Tokyo, gaining the achievement of being the youngest performers to play there. It also gave them the international attention they deserved. Then, last November, they had a chance to team up with Metallica on the promotion of Metallica’s premiere of Through the Never, paving the way to the U.K. and the illustrious spot in this years Sonisphere.

The best part about Babymetal is how family friendly their music and image is, their concerts enjoyed by children and adults alike. But don’t take my word for it. Babymetal is a band that needs to be heard before it can be understood. There are just no words good enough to describe what they have brought to us all. They will join Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Dream Theater and more at the Sonisphere Festival going on July 4th – 6th. Nab up tickets quickly, you don’t want to miss them live!

Check out Babymetal’s video Gimmie Chocolate below:

Learn about the differences between Babymetal’s sound and how cultural differences are viewed by Americans here:

Or you can check out the list of other big name bands coming to the festival: http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/2014-04-09/even-more-bands-announced-for-sonisphere

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