BABYMETAL on New Landmark Album, Global Festival Dreams & Making ‘Music Anyone Can Enjoy’: Billboard Japan Monthly Feature Interview

Billboard Japan sat down with BABYMETAL for its Monthly Feature series spotlighting artists and releases of note today. The trio’s fourth studio album called METAL FORTH made a historic debut at No. 9 on the U.S. Billboard 200 — the first time ever that a group made up entirely of Japanese members has broken into the chart’s top 10.

The record kicks off with “from me to u (feat. Poppy),” composed by former Bring Me The Horizon member Jordan Fish, setting the tone for a collection of ten collaborations with artists the band has encountered throughout their global journey. The title, METAL FORTH, reflects the idea of going “beyond metal,” and as SU-METAL explains, it’s “an album packed with BABYMETAL seen from many different angles.”

More than just a bold new chapter for the band’s reborn lineup, the release also comes at a milestone moment: BABYMETAL’s 15th anniversary. METAL FORTH marks a brilliant update to the group’s career, and the three members — SU-METAL, MOAMETAL, and MOMOMETAL — chatted about what it means to them.

First, tell us your honest impressions of the album.

SU-METAL: This time we worked with many different artists, so the album shows BABYMETAL from all kinds of angles. Each track gave us the chance to try something new and push ourselves in a different direction. Every BABYMETAL album is like a toy box— you hear it and think, “What is this?!” — and I feel like we managed to top that expectation again. The range of songs has expanded a lot, and while it was tough being asked to sing in a more grown-up style, once I went for it, those songs ended up being the key moments of the album. Overall, it was a lot of fun.

MOAMETAL: Hitting No. 9 on the Billboard 200 also gave us a real sense of accomplishment. We’ve been doing this for 15 years, so breaking our own record feels great. And knowing that people still haven’t gotten tired of us and continue to want more is what really keeps us going.

On the same chart, METAL RESISTANCE peaked at No. 39 in 2016 and METAL GALAXY hit No. 13 in 2019. This time you reached a new peak. How did you feel when you got the news?

MOAMETAL: We’d just finished our set at SUMMER SONIC in Osaka, so the three of us came together, went “Yeahhh!” and gave each other big hugs.

MOMOMETAL, this is your first album since officially joining the group.

MOMOMETAL: Being involved in the creative process as a member taught me how an album actually comes together. And since this is my first one, I’m just so glad it turned out to be so rich and wonderful, and that we were able to achieve such results. It really feels like all my hard work has paid off.

Does the commercial side of music, like charts and sales, serve as positive inspiration and motivation for you, or do you prefer to keep some distance from it?

MOAMETAL: It feels like the people around us help us keep some distance so we don’t think about it too much ourselves. Like, these days, short songs tend to be popular, right? But if you listen to our album, it’s clear we weren’t thinking about that at all. That’s what makes it feel so true to us, and because the chart positions we’ve earned weren’t influenced by trends, it actually gives us confidence. I really love the environment we’re in right now.

During the production process, were there any tasks that left a particularly strong impression on you, or any unexpected surprises?

MOMOMETAL: I was in charge of the death growls a lot, so that task definitely left a strong impression on me.

SU-METAL: MOMOMETAL started doing the death growls originally as a joke within the group. But as we worked on the album, her death growl parts kept increasing. I watched her gradually become more professional — practicing her technique, figuring out, “Is this the right way?” on her own — and seeing that growth has me excited for what’s next.

THE OTHER ONE, released in 2023, was a concept album exploring “another story of BABYMETAL” and really stood out in your discography. Do you think the experience of making that album influenced this one?

SU-METAL: As the title suggests, THE OTHER ONE was all about showing another side of BABYMETAL, and I think we really went all in on the metal. When we released “Metari!! (feat. Tom Morello),” which is also on METAL FORTH, a lot of people were like, “BABYMETAL is back!” You could say that expanding our range with THE OTHER ONE is what brought BABYMETAL to where we are today. And listening to this new album, I just feel, “Yep, this is definitely BABYMETAL.”

MOAMETAL: I feel like we grew a lot in terms of dance during THE OTHER ONE, too. The choreography MIKIKOMETAL gave us was pretty hard, and that experience really carried over into the moves for METAL FORTH. For “RATATATA,” we came up with almost all of the choreography ourselves, and I think being able to take on that kind of challenge was made possible because of what we learned during THE OTHER ONE.

BABYMETAL’s music has often been described as “Kawaii Metal.” How did you approach the song “KxAxWxAxIxI”?

SU-METAL: I actually don’t think of this song as “Kawaii Metal” at all — it feels like it’s going in a completely opposite direction. It doesn’t really feel Kawaii or even Metal, and that’s what makes it interesting. People who listened to “from me to u (feat. Poppy)” or “Song 3 (BABYMETAL x Slaughter to Prevail)” and thought, “Ah, this is classic BABYMETAL,” will probably stop for a second here and go, “Wait, what’s going on?” We’ve been flying the “Kawaii Metal” flag for so long, but now we’re singing “I’m KAWAII” over this super aggressive track. It kind of makes you wonder, “Does what they’re saying and what they’re doing even match up?” That sense of confusion might actually be the “What is this?!” moment of the album. I think it’s one of those songs that grows on you the more you listen to it.

MOMOMETAL: When I first heard the title, I imagined something bright and pop — like the kind of Kawaii you associate with Japan — so I was like, “Oh, this isn’t what I expected.” It has a hint of allure, a mature kind of cute, you could say. I think we ended up creating a version of Kawaii that’s different from what people usually imagine.

You have two shows coming up at Saitama Super Arena set for January 2026. How are you feeling as you look ahead to them?

SU-METAL: Those will be the final shows of our world tour, which also includes stops at the O2 Arena in the U.K., the Intuit Dome in the U.S., and arenas in Hong Kong and Mexico. It’s our first time touring the world on this scale, so I’d be really happy if people could see how much we’ve grown through it. What I can say now is that it’s going to be the culmination of everything we’ve done over the past year. I hope everyone looks forward to it.

Looking further ahead, one of my dreams is for us to headline an overseas festival someday. Of course, there are things like sales and numbers that matter, but in the metal world, where you stand on a festival lineup really carries a lot of weight. So I’d love for us to reach that point one day.

Also, lately when we play overseas, there are a lot of people from our own generation, and even kids, coming to see us. But in Japan, I think there are still a lot of people who see metal as something mainly for men or feel a bit of resistance to it. Through BABYMETAL, I want to show more people that metal is a kind of music anyone can enjoy.

—This interview by Takuto Ueda first appeared on Billboard Japan