Metal Galaxy is the third studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Babymetal. It was first released in Japan on October 8, 2019, with an international release following on October 11, 2019. The album was released through BMD Fox Records in Japan, in Europe under earMusic, and elsewhere under Babymetal Records. Produced by the band's manager Kobametal, the record is a concept album of an "odyssey to the Metal Galaxy" and contains elements of music from various parts of the world. It is also the first to contain guest performances from other artists, as well as their first release to not feature founding member Yuimetal. Due to Yuimetal's poor health, the band performed with one backup dancer to form a trio alongside Su-metal and Moametal. The band began a world tour in support of the album in September 2019, with support from Avatar and The Hu in the United States and Bring Me the Horizon in Japan.
Metal Galaxy received generally positive reviews from music critics, and managed to peak at number three on the Oricon Weekly Chart with first-week sales of 73,096 units. In the United States, the album debuted at number thirteen on the Billboard 200, becoming the highest-charting Japanese-language album in the chart's history. Five songs from the album were released as digital singles, with "Distortion", "Starlight", "Elevator Girl", "Pa Pa Ya!!" and "BxMxC" charting within the top four on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart. The album has sold 96,735 copies in Japan as of December 2019.
Background and release On April 1, 2019, three years after the worldwide release of the band's second album Metal Resistance, Babymetal announced a third album with a release set for 2019, as well as a series of headlining shows in Japan, Babymetal Awakens: The Sun Also Rises and Babymetal Arises: Beyond the Moon – Legend "M" in the summer. With its title later revealed to be Metal Galaxy, it is the band's first album not to feature original member Yuimetal, who left the band in October 19, 2018 due to a medical issue.
Metal Galaxy was released in several editions varying by region. In Japan, the album was released in 16-track 2-disc editions via a standard edition in compact disc and LP formats, a CD limited edition with a DVD of music videos, "Sun" and "Moon" limited editions enclosed in LP-size jackets, and "The One" limited edition with a DVD, exclusively available to members of "The One" official fanclub. The album was also made available earlier in the region, on October 8, 2019. Internationally, the album was released in a standard 14-track single-disc edition, a 2-LP edition in black or transparent vinyl, and a download card, in various combinations.
On August 9, 2019, the band released the artwork for the Japanese "Sun" and "Moon" editions, along with the track listings for all editions of Metal Galaxy. The same day, pre-orders for the album were made available in physical and digital editions.
Composition The band described the theme of the album as going "on an odyssey to the Metal Galaxy". Su-metal stated that the album is "like a toybox, with a different mixture of songs in there". The vocalist explained that, while Babymetal and Metal Resistance "had cool sounds to the songs", Metal Galaxy has a "new type of kawaii metal", and incorporates the sound of different countries in which the band has toured since the release of Metal Resistance, reflecting the "journey" made in the previous years. Kobametal stated that he wanted to create Babymetal in the image of the cultural diversity found around the world in music, with Metal Galaxy being a "conceit to explore this idea". The opening track "Future Metal" includes robotic narration stating: "This ain't heavy metal, welcome to the world of Babymetal" with a following "electronic flurry", "Elevator Girl" has elements of "languid jazz", "Shanti Shanti Shanti" is composed of Indian instrumentation, and "Night Night Burn!" contains elements of Latin music. Additionally, the songs "Starlight", "Shine", and "Arkadia" were called "a trilogy of lights". The album also features guest musicians, including gruff growls by Sabaton frontman Joakim Brodén on the track "Oh! Majinai", Arch Enemy member Alissa White-Gluz, and Thai rapper F. Hero on "Pa Pa Ya!!", continuing the band's trend of creating unconventional music. Additionally, "Da Da Dance" features B'z guitarist Tak Matsumoto, and "Brand New Day" features Polyphia guitarists Tim Henson and Scott LePage.
According to Kobametal, songwriting for Metal Galaxy began when he gathered songwriters together to discuss the kind of music in desire of exploration. Musical styles included Cuban rhythms, South American tribal music, and Scandinavian metal. "Night Night Burn!" is said to have started six years prior, at the same time as the production for the song "Megitsune".
Promotion
On April 1, 2019, Babymetal announced a series of headlining shows, Babymetal Awakens: The Sun Also Rises and Babymetal Arises: Beyond the Moon – Legend "M", with the latter shows taking place around Moametal's twentieth birthday, as a counterpart to Su-metal's Legend S: Baptism XX. The first set of shows, Babymetal Awakens, was performed at Yokohama Arena and with a dancer taking Yuimetal's place. Immediately after the second show, the band travelled to the United Kingdom to perform at Glastonbury Festival 2019 on June 30, 2019. Three support dancers—Kano Fujihira, Riho Sayashi, and Momoko Okazaki—officially termed the Avengers, took turns filling Yuimetal's role in the original trio formation. Titled as Metal Resistance Episode VIII, the era of Babymetal features a theme that the Avengers are said to be summoned by the Fox God.
Tour dates for the yet unnamed Metal Galaxy World Tour were first announced on May 10, 2019, with dates ranging from September 4, 2019 to March 1, 2020. A headlining show at The Forum in Los Angeles set to coincide with the release of Metal Galaxy.
On June 28, 2019, following the release of the single "Pa Pa Ya!!" and the band's subsequent performances at Yokohama Arena on June 28 and 29, Babymetal revealed the title of the record to be Metal Galaxy. The Metal Galaxy World Tour began in the United States on September 4, 2019, and was scheduled to conclude in Taiwan on April 3, 2020. The band's performance at The Forum near Los Angeles on October 11, 2019, coincided with the worldwide release date of Metal Galaxy. On October 13, 2019, Babymetal announced another leg of the tour to take place in Asia. On December 4, 2019, Babymetal announced another European leg of the tour, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom.
Metal Galaxy World Tour Date City Country Venue Opening act North America September 4, 2019 Orlando United States Hard Rock Live Avatar September 6, 2019 Atlanta Coca-Cola Roxy September 8, 2019 Washington The Anthem September 11, 2019 Boston House of Blues September 13, 2019 Philadelphia The Fillmore September 15, 2019 New York City Terminal 5 September 18, 2019 Detroit The Fillmore Detroit September 20, 2019 Chicago Aragon Ballroom September 21, 2019 Saint Paul Myth Live Event Center September 23, 2019 Kansas City Uptown Theater September 24, 2019 Dallas Southside Ballroom September 27, 2019 Denver Ogden Theatre September 28, 2019 Salt Lake City The Union Event Center September 30, 2019 Las Vegas House of Blues October 1, 2019 Tempe Marquee Theatre October 4, 2019 San Francisco The Warfield October 11, 2019 Inglewood The Forum rowspan=2 October 13, 2019 Sacramento Discovery Park October 15, 2019 Portland Roseland Theater The Hu October 16, 2019 Seattle The Paramount Theatre Asia November 16, 2019 Saitama Japan Saitama Super Arena Bring Me the Horizon November 17, 2019 November 20, 2019 Osaka Osaka-jō Hall November 21, 2019 December 16, 2019 Tokyo Zepp DiverCity rowspan=5 December 17, 2019 December 28, 2019 Earth Stage January 25, 2020 Chiba Makuhari Messe January 26, 2020 Europe February 3, 2020 Stockholm Sweden Fryshuset Skynd February 4, 2020 Oslo Norway Sentrum Scene February 5, 2020 Copenhagen Denmark Vega Main Hall February 8, 2020 Hamburg Germany Große Freiheit 36 February 9, 2020 Paris France Élysée Montmartre February 11, 2020 Vienna Austria Gasometer February 13, 2020 Cologne Germany Carlswerk Victoria February 14, 2020 Berlin Huxleys February 16, 2020 Brussels Belgium AB February 17, 2020 Tilburg Netherlands 013 February 19, 2020 Glasgow Scotland Barrowland Creeper February 20, 2020 Cardiff Wales The Great Hall February 22, 2020 ManchesterEngland O2 Apollo February 23, 2020 London Eventim Apollo February 26, 2020 Helsinki Finland House of Culture rowspan=3 February 28, 2020 Saint Petersburg Russia M1 March 1, 2020 Moscow Adrenaline Stadium
Cancelled/postponed shows Date City Country Venue Reason Asia November 23, 2019 Hong Kong Hong Kong Central Harbourfront Cancelled due to 2019–20 Hong Kong protests March 20, 2020 Chiba Japan KnotfestCancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic March 22, 2020 Bangkok Thailand GMM Live House March 27, 2020 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia KL Live March 29, 2020 Jakarta Indonesia Gelora Bung Karno Stadium April 3, 2020 Taipei Taiwan National Taiwan University Sports Center May 16, 2020 Manila Philippines Pulp Summer Slam Festival Europe June 6, 2020 NürnbergGermany Rock im Park Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic June 7, 2020 Nürburgring Rock am Ring June 8, 2020 Warsaw Poland Stodola June 10, 2020 Nickelsdorf Austria Nova Rock Festival June 11, 2020InterlakenSwitzerlandGreenfield Festival June 12, 2020 June 13, 2020 June 14, 2020 Donington England Download Festival June 17, 2020 Utrecht Netherlands Tivoli Ronda June 19, 2020 Dessel Belgium Graspop Metal Meeting June 21, 2020 Clisson France Hellfest June 23, 2020 MadridSpain La Riviera June 24, 2020 Barcelona Razzmatazz
Singles The first single released from the album, "Distortion" was released as a digital single on May 8, 2018, just short of the band's fourth world tour, the Babymetal World Tour 2018. A music video released the same day did not feature any of the band members of Babymetal, but rather the Chosen Seven of the era. The song charted at number two on the Billboard World Digital Singles chart. The song later had a limited-edition LP release on November 23, 2018. The album version features Alissa White-Gluz of the band Arch Enemy.
"Starlight" was released digitally as the second single from the album on October 19, 2018, prior to the Japanese leg of the Babymetal World Tour 2018, and coinciding with Yuimetal's official departure from the band. A music video was released on the same day. The song managed to peak at number two on the Billboard World Digital Singles chart.
The third single, "Elevator Girl", was released digitally on May 10, 2019, along with the band's announcement of the Metal Galaxy World Tour. The song reached number four on the Billboard World Digital Singles chart. A music video for an English-language version of the song was released on August 16, 2019.
"Pa Pa Ya!!" was released as the fourth single from the album on June 28, 2019, just before the first show Babymetal Awakens: The Sun Also Rises. A live performance of the song was released as a music video on July 1, 2019.
On September 27, 2019, Babymetal released a music video for the song "Shanti Shanti Shanti" on YouTube, having been released digitally as a promotional single for the album the same day (based on time zone).
On October 9, 2020, Babymetal uploaded a music video for "BxMxC" to YouTube, released the song worldwide as a digital single, and announced a December 9, 2020 release for Japanese limited-edition vinyl coupled with a live performance of the track at the show "Legend – Metal Galaxy".
Critical reception