Having dominated the European festival circuit (including their first successful full Download set) and ahead of their colossal tour of North and South America this Autumn, BABYMETAL have created yet another offering to appease the mighty Fox God with their Deluxe edition of 2025’s METAL FORTH.
LOUD WOMEN’s Anita Majumdar gave us the lowdown on the initial release, breaking down each collab track and why BABYMETAL are still champions of Japanese kawaii heavy metal and rock. Now featuring an additional two remixes and three live recordings, we dived back down the fox’s den to blast METAL FORTH DELUXE at full blast. It is officially BABYMETAL Summer.
Opener ‘from me to u’ is still rapid-fire fun, poppy‘s featured visceral screams both contrasting and complementing Su-Metal‘s bittersweet tones, while ‘RATATATA’ remains a punchy, riotous track that elicits manic energy from the trio and featured artists Electric Callboy. ‘Song 3’ raises the album’s bar for heavy metal with guitar squeals giving way to Slaughter To Prevail‘s screams before BABYMETAL harmonise on the chorus, before flipping subgenres into ‘Kon! Kon!’ where Bloodywood brings aspects of Indian instrumentals infused with metal. ‘KxAxWxAxIxI’ is pure BABYMETAL as they blend their heavy metal tones into a dangerous buildup with a hip-hop-inspired rap from Moametal, before they ramp up into a blend of metal and fun synth work with Polyphia for a track that fits the JPop part of the Kawaii metal trio. ‘My Queen’ is undoubtedly a Spiritbox collab with their renowned guitar distortions that break ground for Su-Metal to hit catchy, powerful notes on the chorus, keeping the heaviness to a peak on ‘Algorism’ as they focus on intricate riffs and racing rhythms. ‘METALI!!’ features instruments that feel more traditionally Japanese utilised in a modern heavy way, as Tom Morello‘s shouts add weight to the trio’s chorus harmonies. They close out the original track listing with ‘White Flame -白炎-‘, an emotional closer to the album that focuses on heavy metal aspects that have inspired their illustrious career.
BABYMETAL reworks ‘from me to u’ into two separate remixes, the first from Major Lazer feeling much more created for club scenes. It feels somewhat out of place on the album and leaves out the fast and wild energy that metal fans would expect, but it utilises different instruments to make for an interesting remix. The second remix from Jordan Fish still has a club element to it, but is undoubtedly aimed at the metal EDM audience and adds a new level of frenetic energy and pace to the track, still paying respect to the metal genre that drives it.
The first of three live recordings, ‘from me to u’ from The O2, London, has exactly the sort of chaos you expect, the build-up to the track filled with the screams of waiting fans, while Su-Metal’s live vocals add a richness to the track as poppy screams emphatically. ‘My Queen’ live has a gradual build of sirens and squeals to build the crowd’s anticipation for the live unveiling of the track, recorded at the Intuit Dome, California, Courtney LaPlante bringing absolute heat with her scorching vocals, Su-Metal and LaPlante gracefully asking the crowd to applaud the other in a true mark of show(wo)manship. The Deluxe version of Metal Forth ends with the live rendition of ‘Algorism’ from Saitama Super Arena, Japan, and demonstrates the real talent the Kawaii metal trio has in how they maintain every note in rapid-fire succession, Momometal delivering guttural screams on the electrifying breakdown. If you’ve yet to experience BABYMETAL live, this will build that anticipation for a damn good time.
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