BABYMETAL – LIVE AT WEMBLEY

“A long time ago in a heavy metal galaxy, far, far away ... ”

A concert, or in this case, a recording of one meant for home-use, begins. Can the listener keep a straight face, hearing a grave voice recite these words? A pompous gothic choir backs the voice which goes on to tell us that:

”The spirit of heavy metal, the destinies were chosen by the Fox God ... ”

And so on. Is this a genuine attempt to convince the listener of heavy metal's solemnity, or some kind of hilarious parody? Is the listener supposed to burst into a relieving laugh at any time? These are the kind of thoughts that may cross the listener's mind when they've gotten themselves involved with BABYMETAL's new CD, LIVE AT WEMBLEY. The peculiar fact remains, however, that this CD is neither a failed bid to appear a sober heavy metal group nor any kind of self-ironic satire. It is just BABYMETAL, and BABYMETAL is surely something everyone know already, isn't it?

LIVE AT WEMBLEY is definitely not the first live album of the world's greatest kawaii metal group. It isn't even their first live show recorded overseas. The 2010-founded group released their debut album in 2014 and since then their worldwide success has shown no signs of decline. BABYMETAL have toured across both Europe and America and it’s their live performances that make them a metal group to be taken seriously. A pop/metal/whatnot crossover group led by three glittering idols would have no need to perform live with a real band. Indeed, playback was the solution for BABYMETAL back in their beginnings. However, this hasn't been the case for several years now. The group is backed by a genuine live band and that is an essential factor in making BABYMETAL metal.

It is obvious that when talking about an entertainment unit founded by a talent agency, the musicians can't be anything less than the most qualified professionals. This can clearly be heard in BABYMETAL's live recordings. There's no rough touch of heavy metal's punky roots to be found here. The performance is top quality and it wouldn't be surprising if each show on this tour was identical from the first note to the last. Some will surely find this an undesired trait and hold that heavy metal should have a certain kind of rusty edge. Such edge, however, can't be found in BABYMETAL, though this shouldn’t be a matter to lament over. The fact that playing skill and technical mastery of one's instrument has always been appreciated in heavy metal remains at least as strong as the craving for dirt and danger. BABYMETAL's backing group, called Kami Band, are four technically hardcore professionals and they've been able to transform their live energy into a form that will flow nicely from the listener's home stereo system.

LIVE AT WEMBLEY can prove to be quite a fierce listen at times. The cheesy intro speech takes a minute and a half of the listener's precious time but after that an intense musical ride begins. The debut album's intro piece, Babymetal Death, serves as the opening for the show and though the song is far from dynamic and intelligent, it works much better live than on the studio album. The three singers introduce themselves in the familiar manner backed by ruthless riffing. Finally, after the lengthy introduction piece, Awadama Fever starts, bringing forth the long awaited pop melodies which establish a merry mood. The real blast, however, begins with YAVA! This song was one of the best on Metal Resistance and it impresses with its quick-paced and tight, very J-rockish rhythm. Catchy melodies and a killer breakdown make it a characteristic BABYMETAL song par excellence.

From the very beginning of the CD the sound recording stands out. It is quite a rough live sound, essentially different from BABYMETAL's studio albums. Massive walls of guitar sound have been reduced to just the two guitars that were playing live at the venue. This gives more room, especially for the bass, to be heard on the live recording in a way it can't be heard on the studio albums. It sounds almost as if a new instrument has been added to the line-up. This is nice for the devoted listener who may now concentrate entirely on the interesting bass lines if they want to; something that’s difficult to do with the studio recordings and their compressed sound atmospheres.

Despite a few extended crowd chantings, there are no actual changes in the song arrangements on the live recording. Even the keyboard parts and other remarkable sound effects have been produced with the aid of playback so the songs are quite faithful to the studio recordings. Nevertheless, the sheer difference between the live and studio sound makes the live recording surprisingly interesting to follow. Worries about whether or not the group's flashy stage show would translate without the aid of video prove to have been in vain. LIVE AT WEMBLEY works very nicely even without visual content: only the listener, a room without lights and the sound flowing from the device of one's choice.

Although the CD of this concert works well on its own there is also a DVD version and it is actually quite funny to see how the set lists of the two differ from each other. The DVD features four additional songs that were edited from the CD, all from the debut album Babymetal. One might feel some disappointment that a tour to promote Metal Resistance is dominated by tracks from the Babymetal album. Why weren't the frantic death metal Sis. Anger or the utterly uncontrollable prog piece Tales of the Destinies included in the set list? Both songs are highlights of the Metal Resistance album, after all. It is true that Metal Resistance was a much more metal-oriented album than the debut which focused more on avant-garde pop/metal crossover. It seems that pop still rules over metal in BABYMETAL's set lists.

Still, one can't feel too sorry about the set list as the older BABYMETAL songs work well live. Doki Doki☆Morning, Megitsune and Gimme Chocolate!! invite the listener to sing along and dance with an irresistible force. From the new album, the massive, heavy AOR track THE ONE strikes as a first-class live song with its awe-inspiring melodies and touching vocal performance. The most heartfelt moment of the CD is experienced when, at the beginning of Ijime, dame, zettai, SU-METAL gives a small speech against bullying in English. The song itself is hard as steel with a remarkably elegant double guitar lead. If you, by any chance, happened to be one of those despicable beings picking on the weakest guy in class, then shame on you now! But don't worry, as everyone, bullies and the bullied, will eventually be united by metal.

Unlike SU-METAL’s emotional comments before Ijime, dame, zettai, the awkward sci-fi speeches, like those quoted earlier, hardly strike the listener as necessary. These pseudo-ominous proclamations have been scattered throughout CD, introducing some songs. Though they are clearly a part of BABYMETAL's live performance, it wouldn't have been a grave sin to omit them from the CD recording and the same applies to the extended crowd chanting. The last two songs on the album, THE ONE and Road of Resistance, take over ten minutes each thanks to the pointless readings of cheap metal mythology and the crowd getting stuck on shouting a few bars of simple melody. Had these been cut there would perhaps have been space to include more songs on the album, although some would argue that there'd be no greater sin than to edit these live concert atmospherics from the recording. Well, supporters of this opinion have had their way this time.

BABYMETAL’s LIVE AT WEMBLEY CD is a worthwhile addition to any fan's collection. The live mixes of familiar songs are fascinating to listen to in how they differ from the studio versions. The band's flawless playing doesn't make for a sterile sound; instead they produce a vivid and inspiring performance. Though one may not approve of the prominent role granted to the noisy crowd on this CD, it adds to the live concert feeling, making you almost feel like you were at Wembley yourself, when in harsh reality you're only sitting on your living room sofa.

What is unique about BABYMETAL is that they are probably the only metal band in the world that can play the kind of corny lines quoted at the beginning of this review without appearing utterly dumb or somehow ironic. When BABYMETAL's PA system shouts ”The spirit of heavy metal transforms into eternal light, transcending space, time and boundaries, and ultimately becomes the one”, it doesn’t mean that they're pulling off a funny joke or that they don't understand how insipid such words actually sound. They mean nothing more or less than what the words say. They're naively serious, just like the sincere warriors of heavy metal were during the golden eighties. That they appear so nowadays, in the depressing 21st century, without actually being ridiculed by it, has to be appreciated. They’re certainly doing something right here.