Babymetal at Golden Gods Awards

Babymetal won the Metal Hammer's Breakthrough award at the Golden God Awards. They are the 1st Japanese band to get an award.

Babymetal and Dragonforce at Download Festival

Babymetal had a surprise guest performance during Dragonforce show in The Maverick Stage at Download Festival. The two bands have already collaborated when Herman Li and Sam Totman provided the riffs for Road of Resistance. Dragonforce will also appear during Babymetal's performance in Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards.

Sam Totman wearing Babymetal T-shirt in their latest DragonForce promo photo

DragonForce will have a World Tour this year and in one of their promotional photos, Sam Totman is seen wearing a Babymetal T-shirt. For those who are wondering it is actually "The One" T-shirt.

Hedoban magazine Kobametal Interview about Road of Resistance, Babymetal, DragonForce collaboration and more...

The number of things we would like to ask Kobametal are almost unlimited in scope.

(Title) The producer of Babymetal who should more properly be called the “Metal command tower” appears in “Hedoban” for the first time in about 1 year!

“Road of Resistance”! “Live at Budoukan ~ Red night”! Overseas warrior training journey!

This can not be reduced simply to the genre of “Melodic Speed Metal”. “Road of Resistance” which should be referred to as the greatest Metal Anthem coming of out Japan in recent years. The clear and blaring sound of the “Red Night Edition” is knocking people over right and left. The multitude of Miracles shown during the overseas warrior training journey that followed on the heels of the “Live at Budoukan ~ Red Night”. Due to the fervent love call of “Hedoban” Kobametal answered our requests with a mail based interview about hints as to where Babymetal is headed following their “Legend 2015 ~ New Spring Festival” performance.


Regarding “Road of Resistance”

Q: When did you begin to start creating “Road of Resistance”? I remember you saying before when we talked with you when you were working on the Babymetal album that “you had a song in the works that had an even higher BPM”. Were you referring to the “Road of Resistance”?

Kobametal: The basic form of the song was ready quite a ways back, but it took on the structure of a song in 2013, I think.

Q: With Babymetal songs made up to this point you have incorporated things from a variety of Metal sub-genres. “Road of Resistance” has a 100% degree of pure so-called “Melodic Speed Metal” to it. Were you, Kobametal, personally pondering doing a “Melodic Speed Metal with Babymetal”?

Kobametal: With the songs of “IDZ” and “Akatsuki” that we have released in the past we already had incorporated Melodic Speed Metal aspects so I was not particularly making an attempt to do so anew with this song.

Q: Is the Metal sub-genre of Melodic Speed Metal one of the types of Metal that you personally like? Also, what facets of Melodic Speed Metal attract you?

Kobameta: Personally, Melodic Speed Metal is a type of music that I have been listening to from a long time ago. With its high speed guitar work and drumming laid over with a melody I am attracted by, and I mean this as a compliment to this type of music, to its various components that are often called somewhat “uncool”.

Q: The first time I heard “Road of Resistance” in London I was truly surprised, but when I heard the finished studio song with all the various sounds packed into it I was once again and further surprised. Were there certain things you were focusing on or any difficulties you may have encountered when working on it?

Kobametal: The point I was really trying to pay attention to was just how “Babymetal” could we make it sound. The difficult part was the high tempo of the song I guess you could say.

Q: In Vol. 1 of “Hedoban”, “Kobametal-san's selections <29 Loud/Metal albums (+1) >,” you selected Dragon Force and so I would assume that they are a band that you like and so I would like to ask you what you find appealing about them from your point of view?

Kobametal: It would be the fact that they do not let you down in your expectations of them and so speaking kind of metaphorically, it is like when you order a dish at a restaurant hoping to get the exact same taste that you got when you ordered and tasted it before. I feel that they have an originality that could be called the “Dragon Force beat” that they provide at just the right place in a song with just the right sound and melody.

Babymetal and DragonForce song collaboration: Road of Resistance

Road of Resistance - Babymetal's newest song is a collaboration with DragonForce members: Herman Li and Sam Totman. Babymetal first performed the song when the had a concert in London's O2 Academy Brixton on November 8.

 

According to Herman Li's tweet that the collaboration started back in 2013.

This picture is proof that the two bands met back in 2013. If we analyze the girls' costume, you will notice that they are wearing their costumes from the Budokan concert.

The other people that helped compose Road of Resistance are: Mish-Mosh/NORiMETAL/KYT-METAL and mastered by Ted Jensen.

 

The song is currently in limited release and fans can only get it by downloading the "Red Night" edition of their "Live at Budokan" album on iTunes which gives you a code that let's you download Road of Resistance for free. The song has been well received by fans and non fans. Some even claiming it to be "The best Babymetal song". The "Red Night- Live at Budokan" album has been topping the US, UK, Canada, German iTunes chart for metal ever since it was released.