Metal Resistance

Metal Resistance
Babymetal studio album
Publication (s)	March 29, 2016
admission	2015-2016
Label (s)	BMD Fox Records, Toy's Factory
Format (s)	CD, DVD, download, vinyl
Genre (s)	Kawaii Metal ( Metal , J-Pop )
Title (number)	12
running time	54:09
occupation	Suzuka Nakamoto (lead vocals) Yui Mizuno (vocals) Moa Kikuchi (vocals) various studio musicians
production	Kobametal
chronology Babymetal (2014) Metal Resistance Metal Galaxy (2019)
Single releases February 1, 2015 Road of Resistance February 25, 2016 karate

Metal Resistance (written: METAL RESISTANCE ) is the second studio album by the Japanese metal band Babymetal . It was released in Japan on March 29, 2016, with international publication three days later. The single karate had been released six weeks earlier . Metal Resistance developed the kawaii metal style defined in the debut album Babymetal and finally established Babymetal in the global metal scene . The album rose to number 2 in the Japanese Oricon charts, in Great Britain it was the highest-ranked Japanese-language album ever released and in the USA Babymetal were the most successful Japanese musicians for more than 50 years.

Publication and promotion

Immediately after the end of the last concert of the 2015 world tour, which took place on December 13th at the Yokohama Arena , management announced the upcoming release of a new album. On January 15, 2016, the music press announced that his name would be Metal Resistance . Five weeks later, on February 19, 2016, the artwork and the tracklist were published . The song Road of Resistance , released twelve months earlier, was already included on the international version of the debut album, but was missing on the Japanese version from 2014, which is why it can be found again on Metal Resistance .

The song Karate was released as a digital single on February 25, 2016 , and the accompanying music video was uploaded to the official YouTube channel on the same day . Another music video for The One was also available on YouTube on March 26; it contains recordings of two concerts in the Yokohama Arena on December 12 and 13, 2015, where the song was played live for the first time. In Japan, the album was available on March 29, 2016, three days before its global release on April 1. A new world tour began on April 2nd at Wembley Arena in London . In order to do additional advertising in the USA , the band performed in New York on April 5th on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert , where they performed their hit Gimme Chocolate !! played.

Metal Resistance appeared in several versions. The Japanese standard edition and the international standard edition ("Out of Japan") differ in terms of artwork and sometimes also in terms of content. On the international edition the song The One is sung entirely in English, on the Japanese only in chorus . The song Syncopation on the Japanese edition has been replaced by the song From Dusk Till Dawn on the international edition . There were also two different limited versions: One came with a DVD with recordings of a performance at the 2015 Metropolitan Rock Festival. The second, titled The One, was available exclusively to members of the Babymetal fan club. It contains an "unfinished version" of the song of the same name; Also included were two Blu-rays with recordings of two fan club concerts.

Compositions

The song material for the new album was developed from 2013, including the chorus for Amore and the song No Rain, No Rainbow . The band had played the latter at two concerts in 2014, but it was not included on the debut album. However, it is included on the live album Live: Legend 1999 & 1997 Apocalypse , released in October 2014 . Most of the material was created during the 2014 world tour. Kei Kobayashi (Kobametal), the band's executive producer , stated in an interview that the lyrics and music were subject to an ongoing optimization process before they were released.

The first song on the album is Road of Resistance , musically a mixture of Speed ​​Metal and Symphonic Metal , which is similar to the style of the British metal band DragonForce . In fact, two members of this band, Herman Li and Sam Totman , helped produce the guitar tracks. In addition, the text of the song, which was released as a single in January 2015, anticipates the title of the second album. The single Karate , released shortly before the album, is a nu-metal song with elements of metalcore , djent and J-pop . Awadama Fever , whose bubblegum- inspired vocals are about a "time machine with a mint taste", consists of a drum and bass intro and an industrial metal main part. Many music critics compared it to Gimme Chocolate !! on the debut album. The song Yava! again is strongly influenced by Ska and is characterized in places by staccato-like singing.

Amore is sung solo by lead singer Suzuka Nakamoto (Su-metal). After a rather calm intro, the song suddenly turns into Speed ​​Metal and maintains the high speed until the end. The Viking Metal in Meta Taro is reminiscent of Amon Amarth , with the guitars taking a back seat in favor of synthesizers. The Japanese version only contains the song Syncopation , whose style is influenced by visual kei . The international version features From Dusk Till Dawn instead , which uses trip-hop beats and falsetto vocals to create "an epic feeling like a movie soundtrack".

Yui Mizuno (Yuimetal) and Moa Kikuchi (Moametal), who together form the subgroup "Black Babymetal", sing the song GJ! in rap metal style to aggressive nu metal riffs. The same singers are also in Sis. Anger to hear, an extremely hard Death Metal song in which influences from Black Metal can also be discerned. In contrast, No Rain, No Rainbow, sung solo by Nakamoto, is described as a power ballad that is reminiscent of 1980s glam metal and whose melody was inspired by X Japan . The song Tales of the Destinies is experimental, technically complex Progressive Metal , reminiscent of Dream Theater and contains unexpected ragtime interludes. The One takes the theme of the previous song and turns it into an epic progressive metal ballad. In fact, The One and Tales of the Destinies were originally a single song, but were split up and developed further during production.

reception

source	rating
The Japan Times	positive
Rock sound
Kerrang
Consequence of sound	B +
The Observer
laut.de

Metal Resistance received mostly benevolent reviews from music critics. Based on eight reviews of relevant media, Metacritic calculated 74 out of 100 possible points, which means «generally positive», while the average of the reader reviews was 8.5 out of 10 points.

The Japan Times said the debut album's formula for success had been perfected. A notable side effect of the Idol-Pop influence is that different styles of Metal can coexist on the same album. Rock Sound wrote that on the previous album, some really great songs had become a victim of their madness, but that no longer happens on the new album. Metal Resistance is still "more insane than a bunch of Scrabble-playing otters". Kerrang described the album as "brilliant fun".

Consequence of Sound believed the band perfected a fusion of technical metal, dance music and power pop that was both competent and emotionally invigorating. Karate and From Dusk Till Dawn are particularly worth listening to . The Observer called the album "rule-breaking" and especially highlighted GJ! and sis. Anger emerged, but found No Rain, No Rainbow was too "formulaic" and the English lyrics of The One deprive the band of their exoticism a little. laut.de came to the conclusion: “Polarizing Babymetal is guaranteed not for everyone - especially not for the common metalhead - but they shake things up and open a lot of doors. Above all, they are a phenomenon of today . And maybe exactly the rejuvenation that Metal needs these days. "

Track list

Japanese version
No.	title	music	text	length
1.	Road of Resistance	Mish-Mosh • Norimetal • Kyt-metal	Kitsune of Metal God • Mk-metal • Kxbxmetal	5:19
2.	Karate ( カ ラ テ )	Yuyo soup	Yuyo soup	4:23
3.	Awadama Fever ( あ わ だ ま フ ィ ー バ ー )	Takeshi Ueda	Mk-metal • Kxbxmetal	4:13
4th	Yava! ( ヤ バ ッ! )	Norimetal	Nakametal • Mk-metal • Kxbxmetal	3:48
5.	Amore ( 蒼 星 )	Norimetal	Norimetal • Mk-metal • Kxbxmetal	4:39
6th	Meta Taro ( メ タ 太郎 )	Ryu-metal	Kxbxmetal • Ryu-metal	4:06
7th	Syncopation ( シ ン コ ペ ー シ ョ ン )	Norimetal	Norimetal • Kxbxmetal	4:07
8th.	GJ!	Yuyo soup	Nakata Caos • Yuyo soup	2:56
9.	Sis. Anger	Tsubometal	Tsubometal • Tmetal	3:45
10.	No rain, no rainbow	Yoshifu-metal	Yoshifu-metal • Mk-metal • Nakametal	4:50
11.	Tales of the Destinies	Mish-mosh	Kitsune of Metal God • Kxbxmetal	5:35
12.	The One	Mish-mosh	Kitsune of Metal God • Kxbxmetal	6:29
Overall length:				54:09

"The One" (limited edition)
No.	title	music	text	length
7th	Syncopation ( シ ン コ ペ ー シ ョ ン )	Norimetal	Norimetal • Kxbxmetal	4:07
8th.	GJ! (Reward edit)	Yuyo soup	Nakata Caos • Yuyo soup	2:56
12.	The One (Unfinished ver.)	Mish-mosh	Kitsune of Metal God • Kxbxmetal	3:39
Overall length:				51:19

Version "Out of Japan"
No.	title	music	text	length
7th	From Dusk Till Dawn	Yuyo soup	Kitsune of Metal God • Kxbxmetal • Tmetal	3:47
12.	The One (English ver.)	Mish-mosh	Kitsune of Metal God • Kxbxmetal	6:29
Overall length:				53:49

Contributors

(Information according to the booklet of the album)

Suzuka Nakamoto (Su-metal): lead vocals Yui Mizuno (Yuimetal): vocals Moa Kikuchi (Moametal): Singing Kei Kobayashi (Kobametal, Kxbxmetal, Kitsune of Metal God): Executive Producer , Management, Text Takehiro Mamiya (Yuyoyuppe): text, music, arrangement , mixing Ryugi Yokoi (Ryu-metal): text, music, arrangement Tatsuya Tsubono (Tsubometal): text, music, arrangement Yuuya Shimizu (Tmetal): text

Nobuaki Miyasaka (Mish-Mosh): music, arrangement Sari Miyasaka (Mish-Mosh): music, arrangement Takeshi Ueda: text, music, arrangement, mixing Kyoto: arrangement Tatsuo: arrangement Meg (Megmetal): arrangement Leda (Ledametal): guitar, bass, arrangement Herman Li : guitar Sam Totman : guitar

Chart placements

Metal Resistance rose to first place in the Japanese Oricon daily charts from April 1, 2016, in the Oricon weekly charts the album took second place behind the J Soul Brothers with 132,881 records sold (without downloads) . 15th place in the British album charts is the highest ranking that a Japanese band has ever achieved in Great Britain . On the Billboard 200 album charts , Metal Resistance reached number 39; this is the highest ranking of Japanese interpreters in the USA since 1963, when Kyū Sakamoto was successful with Sukiyaki and Other Japanese Hits .

Chart placements

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	36 (11 weeks)	11
Japan (Oricon)	2 (... Where.)	...
Austria (Ö3)	22nd (1 week)	1
Switzerland (IFPI)	55 (1 week)	1
United States (Billboard)	39 (2 weeks)	2
United Kingdom (OCC)	15th (2 weeks)	2

Awards

year	Award	category	result
2016	MTV Video Music Awards Japan	Best album Japan	Won
2017	Loudwire 6th Annual Music Awards	Best metal album	Won

Overview of publications

region	date	format	Label	Editions	Catalog no.
Japan	29 Mar 2016	CD, DVD	BMD Fox Records • Toy's Factory	limited	TFCC-86545
		CD		default	TFCC-86546
	0April 1, 2016	LP, digital			PPTF-3870
		CD, Blu-ray		"The One" (limited)	ONEC-0002
Europe		CD, digital, LP	earMusic	"Out of Japan"	0210923EMU
United States			RAL • Sony Music Entertainment		8875193202

Web links

• Metal Resistance at Discogs
• Metal Resistance at MusicBrainz

Individual evidence

1. ↑ BABYMETAL 、 宙 を 舞 う！ 新 曲 連 打 、 大 発 表 続 々 で 燃 え た 横 浜 ア リ ー ナ 公演 レ ポ ー ト！ rockinon.com, December 14, 2015, accessed January 20, 2018 (Japanese). 
2. ↑ BABYMETAL 、 新 作 名 は 『METAL RESISTANCE』 4 ・ 1 に “お 告 げ” も. Oricon , January 15, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 (Japanese). 
3. ↑ BABYMETAL: 'Metal Resistance' album cover artwork, track listing revealed. blabbermouth.net , February 19, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
4. ↑ METAL RESISTANCE （通常 盤）. Toy's Factory, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 (Japanese). 
5. ^ Lisa Brown: Stephen Colbert Introduces America to Babymetal's Inimitable Live Act. Billboard , April 6, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
6. ↑ ^{a b c} KOBAMETAL 現 る！ 「METAL RESISTANCE」 全 12 曲解 説 イ ン タ ビ ュ ー. In: Hedoban, No. 10, pp. 47-57. Shinko Music Entertainment, Chiyoda, April 2016.
7. ^ Road of Resistance. In: Babymetal Translations Unofficial. Du-Metal, January 28, 2015, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
8. ↑ Lars Gotrich: Songs We Love: Babymetal, 'Karate'. NPR Music , March 18, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
9. ↑ ^{a b} A Track-By-Track Guide To The New BABYMETAL Album. Rock Sound , March 19, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Jon Hadusek: Metal's strangest band strike back with a strong sophomore album. Consequence of Sound , April 7, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
11. ↑ ^{a b} Ryotaro Aoki: Resistance is futile to Babymetal's ascent. The Japan Times , April 13, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
12. ↑ ^{a b} Gav Lloyd: BABYMETAL - 'Metal Resistance'. Rock Sound , March 31, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
13. ^ ^{A b} James McMahon: Babymetal - Metal Resistance. In Kerrang , issue 1613, April 2016, p. 50.
14. ^ ^{A b} Phil Mongredien: Babymetal: Metal Resistance review - genre mashup breaks all the rules. The Observer , April 3, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
15. ↑ Manuel Berger: Everything the metalworker is afraid of. laut.de , April 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
16. ^ Metal Resistance at Babymetal. Metacritic , April 2, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
17. ↑ CD ア ル バ ム ラ ン キ ン グ. Oricon , April 3, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 (Japanese). 
18. ↑ Babymetal become highest charting Japanese band ever with Metal Resistance on the Official Albums Chart. Official Charts Company , April 8, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
19. ↑ BABYMETAL が 日本人 2 組 目 の 米 ア ル バ ム チ ャ ー ト TOP40 入 り 坂 本 九 以来 53 年 ぶ り （追加 情報 あ り）. Billboard Jaan , April 12, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 (Japanese). 
20. ^ Metal Resistance. GfK Entertainment Charts , accessed on January 20, 2018 . 
21. ↑ BABYMETAL の 作品. Oricon , accessed January 20, 2018 (Japanese). 
22. ^ Babymetal: Metal Resistance. austriancharts.at, accessed on January 20, 2018 . 
23. ^ Babymetal: Metal Resistance. hitparade.ch, accessed on January 20, 2018 . 
24. ^ Babymetal charts history. Billboard , accessed January 20, 2018 . 
25. ^ Babymetal. Official Charts Company , accessed January 20, 2018 . 
26. ↑ MTV VMAJ 2016 受 賞 作品 ＆ 特別 賞 発 表. MTV Japan, October 3, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 (Japanese). 
27. ^ Graham Hartmann: Babymetal Win Five Honors in the 6th Annual Loudwire Awards. Loudwire , January 10, 2017, accessed January 20, 2018 .