Metal Forth is the fifth studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Babymetal. Originally scheduled for release on June 13, 2025, it was delayed several times and eventually released on August 8, 2025. It is the first Babymetal album to feature Momoko Okazaki as an official member and the first to be released following the band's signing to Capitol Records. Metal Forth peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200, becoming the first Japanese act to chart in the top ten in the United States.
Background Metal Forth was announced on April 1, 2025. The title is a play on words, meaning "beyond metal" and referencing the band's view of it as their fourth studio album. It is the first Babymetal album to feature Momoko Okazaki as an official member since she joined the band in 2023 after the departure of Yui Mizuno in 2018, and the first to be released following the band's signing to Capitol Records in early 2025.
The collaborative nature of the album marks a departure from the band's previous albums, with only three of its tracks lacking a guest artist. It has been noted for the varied backgrounds of said artists as it features Tom Morello, Polyphia, and Poppy from the United States; Spiritbox from Canada; Electric Callboy from Germany; Bloodywood from India; and Slaughter to Prevail from Russia. The album was produced by the band's creator Kobametal, whilst the opening track was co-written and produced by Jordan Fish of English band Bring Me the Horizon, whose 2020 song "Kingslayer" featured Babymetal.
Critical reception
Metal Forth received generally positive reviews from music critics, at Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 76, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on nine reviews.
The album received a score of 7/10 from Clash reviewer Sam Walker-Smart, who described it as "unrelentingly maximalist as fans could hope foran audacious whirlwind of global collaborations, high-gloss chaos, and boundless enthusiasm". It was assigned a rating of 8/10 by Blabbermouth, which called it "an audacious delight" and "the snappiest Babymetal release to date". Kerrang! gave it a verdict of 4/5 stars, noting that "there are moments of genius here [...] in forging new bonds and attempting to break new ground, Metal Forth's intentions are noble and the executions occasionally excellent". It was rated 4/5 by Dork, which referred to it as "complex, polished and unshakeable", and DIY described it as "harmonic and balanced". NME gave it 3/5 stars and noted that "while some tracks on Metal Forth showcase the best aspects of each artist, others feel forced, and the end result dilutes the signature sound of the group". Sputnikmusic assigned it a rating of 3.2/5 and said that the album "doesn't feel like a new release, and more importantly, it doesn't sound like a Babymetal album".
Commercial performance Metal Forth debuted at number three on the Oricon Combined Weekly Albums chart for the week of August 18, 2025 with 24,374 equivalent album units, debuting at the top of the Digital Albums chart with 2,264 first-week downloads, debuting at number three on the Physical Albums chart with 21,723 sales, while also topping the Rock Albums chart. The album also managed to chart on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart at number 15 for the week of August 13, 2025.
In the United States, Metal Forth debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 for the week of August 23, 2025, with 36,000 equivalent album units earned, of which 2,500 units were acquired from streaming units equivalent to 3.28 million on-demand official streams, and 33,500 units were pure album sales, allowing the album to debut at number two on the Top Album Sales chart and giving the act their biggest sales week. The former chart placement also marked the first time an all-Japanese act charted a top ten album in the history of the Billboard 200.
Promotion
On the October 23, 2024 Babymetal announced a 2025 UK and European arena tour, beginning on May 10, 2025 in Belgium and ending on May 30, 2025 at the The O2 Arena in the UK, becoming the first Japanese musicians to headline and sell out a show at the latter venue. Tour dates for the North American leg of the tour were announced on March 15, 2025, with dates ranging from June 13 to July 23, 2025, with a finale show later announced for the Intuit Dome in November 2025.
Babymetal World Tour 2025–2026 Date City Country Venue Opening act Europe May 10, 2025 Brussels Belgium Forest National Bambie ThugPoppy May 12, 2025 Hamburg Germany Barclays Arena May 13, 2025 Amsterdam Netherlands AFAS Live May 16, 2025 Frankfurt Germany Jahrhunderthalle May 17, 2025 Berlin Velodrom May 19, 2025 Kraków Poland Tauron Arena May 20, 2025 Nuremberg Germany Arena Nürnberger Versicherung May 22, 2025 Dübendorf Switzerland The Hall May 25, 2025 Madrid Spain Palacio Vistalegre May 26, 2025 Barcelona Poble Espanyol May 28, 2025 Paris France Le Zénith May 30, 2025 London United Kingdom The O2 Arena North America June 13, 2025 Houston United States 713 Music Hall Black Veil BridesBloodywood June 14, 2025 Irving Toyota Music Factory June 17, 2025 Tampa Yuengling Center June 18, 2025 Atlanta Coca-Cola Roxy June 20, 2025 Charlotte Skyla Credit Union Amphitheater June 21, 2025 Baltimore Pier Six Concert Pavilion June 24, 2025 New York The Theater at Madison Square Garden June 25, 2025 Boston MGM Music Hall June 27, 2025 Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena June 28, 2025 Philadelphia TD Pavilion June 30, 2025 Quebec Canada Place Bell July 2, 2025 Toronto Coca-Cola Coliseum July 3, 2025 Sterling Heights United States Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre July 5, 2025 Milwaukee Henry W. Maier Festival Park Milwaukee — July 6, 2025 Maryland Heights Saint Louis Music Park BloodywoodJinjer July 8, 2025 Chicago Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom July 9, 2025 Minneapolis Minneapolis Armory July 14, 2025 Vancouver Canada Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre July 15, 2025 Kent United States accesso ShoWare Center July 17, 2025 San Francisco Masonic Auditorium July 18, 2025 July 20, 2025 Las Vegas Palms Casino Resort July 21, 2025 West Valley City Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre July 23, 2025 Phoenix Arizona Financial Theater AsiaAugust 13, 2025YokohamaJapanKT Zepp YokohamaMetalverseAugust 14, 2025August 16, 2025TokyoMakuhari Messe —August 17, 2025OsakaExpo '70 Commemorative ParkAugust 20, 2025NagoyaComtec Portbase Nagoya MetalverseAugust 21, 2025OsakaZepp Osaka BaysideAugust 24, 2025BangkokThailandImpact Challenger HallAugust 30, 2025KanagawaJapanK-Arena Yokohama —August 31, 2025 September 28, 2025 Busan South Korea Samnak Ecological Park — September 30, 2025 Hong Kong AsiaWorld–Arena October 2, 2025 Taipei Taiwan Zepp New Taipei October 4, 2025 Singapore Marina Bay Street Circuit October 6, 2025 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Zepp Kuala Lumpur Metalverse October 8, 2025 Manila Philippines Smart Araneta Coliseum North America November 1, 2025 Los Angeles United States Intuit Dome Jason Richardson November 7, 2025 Mexico City Mexico Arena CDMX — Asia January 10, 2026 Saitama Japan Saitama Super Arena — January 11, 2026 Oceania March 12, 2026 Perth Australia Perth High Performance Centre Magnolia ParkBloodywood March 14, 2026 Adelaide Adelaide Entertainment Centre March 17, 2026 Melbourne John Cain Arena March 19, 2026 Sydney Hordern Pavillion March 20, 2026 March 22, 2026 Brisbane Riverstage Asia March 29, 2026Tokyo Japan Tokyo Garden Theater — March 30, 2026Zepp HanedaMetalverse April 4, 2026 Kawasaki Higashi-Ougishima Higashi Kouen — Europe June 3, 2026 Stockholm Sweden Norje Havsbad — June 5, 2026 Nürburg Germany Nürburging June 7, 2026 Nuremberg Zeppelinfeld June 9, 2026 Kufstein Austria Festung Kufstein June 11, 2026 Hradec Králové Czechia Park 360 June 13, 2026 Castle Donington England Donington Park June 16, 2026 Hanover Germany Swiss Life Hall June 18, 2026 Warsaw Poland Letnia Scena Progesji June 20, 2026 Dessel Belgium Festivalterrein Stenehei June 24, 2026 Oslo Norway Ekebergsletta June 26, 2026 Leipzig Germany Messehalle 1 June 27, 2026 Copenhagen Denmark Refshaleøen July 1, 2026 Istanbul Turkey Life ParkAsia August 9, 2026 Hitachinaka Japan Hitachi Seaside Park — August 14, 2026 Osaka Expo Commemoration Park August 16, 2026 Tokyo Makuhari MesseNorth America September 2, 2026 Denver United States Ball Arena HalestormViolent Vira September 4, 2026 Chicago Huntington Bank Pavilion September 5, 2026 Noblesville Ruoff Music Center September 7, 2026 Toronto Canada RBC Amphitheatre September 9, 2026 Holmdel United States PNC Bank Arts Center September 10, 2026 Mansfield Xfinity Center September 12, 2026 Bristow Jiffy Lube Live September 13, 2026 Raleigh Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek September 15, 2026 Charlotte Truliant Amphitheater September 16, 2026 Alpharetta Ameris Bank Amphitheatre September 18, 2026 Clarkston Pine Knob Music Theatre September 19, 2026 Louisville Kentucky Exposition Center — September 21, 2026 St. Louis Hollywood Casino Amphitheater HalestormViolent Vira September 23, 2026 Dallas Dos Equis Pavilion September 25, 2026 The Woodlands Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion September 26, 2026 Austin Germania Insurance Amphitheater September 29, 2026 Albuquerque First Financial Credit Union Amphitheater October 1, 2026 Phoenix Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre October 3, 2026 Sacramento Discovery Park —South America November 28, 2026 São Paulo Brazil Espaço Unimed — December 1, 2026 Buenos Aires Argentina Movistar Arena December 3, 2026 Santiago Chile Movistar Arena December 7, 2026 San Miguel Peru Multiespacio Costa 21 December 12, 2026 Mexico City Mexico Estadio Fray Nano BilmuriI Prevail
Track listing All songs are produced by Kobametal. Additional producers are listed below.
Notes signifies a co-producer. "Kitsune of Metal God" refers to a god figure frequently mentioned in band materials and interviews (often as "Kitsune-sama" or the "Fox God"). [Translation: "The Fox God named 3 girls, Su-metal, Yuimetal, and Moametal, 'Babymetal' meaning 'the birth of a new metal'..."]. Official credits under this name are registered to Kobametal. "From Me to U" is stylized in lower case. "Ratatata" and "Metali!!" are stylized in all caps. The three U.S. DTC digital editions (episodes 1-3) include exclusive selections of track-by-track commentary as well as "Sunset Kiss" (live from the O2).
Personnel Credits adapted from Tidal.
Babymetal Su-metal – vocals Moametal – vocals (tracks 1–6, 8–10) Momometal – vocals (1–6, 8–10)
Additional musicians
Jordan Fish – guitar (1) Julian Gargiulo – guitar (1) Stephen Harrison – guitar (1) Poppy – vocals (1) Daniel Klossek – bass (2) David Friedrich – drums (2) Daniel Haniß – guitar (2) Pascal Schillo – guitar (2) Kevin Ratajczak – vocals (2) Nico Sallach – vocals (2) Jack Simmons – guitar (3) Matthew K. Heafy – shamisen (3) Alex Terrible – vocals (3) Karan Katiyar – guitar (4) Jayant Bhadula – vocals (4) Raoul Kerr – vocals (4) Daidai – guitar (5) Megmetal – guitar, programming (6, 8, 9); bass (8, 9); arrangement (8, 9) Scott LePage – guitar (6) Tim Henson – guitar (6) Mike Stringer – guitar (7) Courtney LaPlante – vocals (7) Ryu-metal – guitar, programming (9) Tom Morello – guitar (9) Leda – guitar, bass (10) Tatsuometal – programming (10); arrangement (10) Kyotometal – arrangement (10)
Technical
Ted Jensen – mastering Zakk Cervini – mixing (1, 7), engineering (7) Daniel Haniß – mixing (2) Egor Krotov – mixing (3) Karan Katiyar – mixing (4) Tsubasa Ishibashi – mixing (5) Megmetal – mixing (6, 8, 9) Tue Madsen – mixing (10) Watametal – engineering Drew Fulk – engineering, additional mixing (7) Julian Gargiulo – engineering, additional mixing (7) Josh Gilbert – engineering (7)
Charts
Weekly charts