Metal Resistance is the second studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Babymetal. It was first released on March 29, 2016 (2016-03-29), in Japan through BMD Fox Records, and on April 1, 2016 (2016-04-01), worldwide through earMusic, RED Associated Labels (RAL), and Sony Music Entertainment.^[2] Most work for the album began in 2014, shortly after the release of the band's debut album Babymetal. The members of the band describe the album as more diverse in heavy metal, with the recurring theme acquired while on tour.

Metal Resistance received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album managed to peak at number two on the Oricon Weekly Chart with first-week sales of 132,881 units, and has since been certified gold with over 230,000 copies sold in Japan. In the United States, the album debuted at number 39 on the Billboard 200, the highest rank for a Japanese artist since Kyu Sakamoto in 1963, with first-week sales of 12,914 units, and became the band's second album to top the World Albums chart. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number fifteen on the UK Albums Chart, the highest position reached by a Japanese band. Two songs from the album—"Road of Resistance" and "Karate"—were released as singles prior to the album's release, and charted on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart.

Materials for the album formed around 2013, including the chorus from "Amore" and a live performance of the song "No Rain, No Rainbow", which did not appear on the band's debut album. More music, such as the opening track "Road of Resistance" was written after the release of the eponymous album, mainly during the Babymetal World Tour 2014. Kobametal explained that most of the songwriting coincided with the band's performances of the new songs before the album, with a constant need to tweak the music or lyrics before the official release.^[3]

In an interview by Gigwise, when asked about the meaning of the album title, lead vocalist Suzuka Nakamoto explained, "isn't about us resisting against anything as such, but in the last year of our activities it does feel like we're battling against something every time we step on stage". She said, concerning the sound in comparison to their debut album: "This album contains a lot more new and different types of metal that we've never done before. We've grown so much in the music that we do, and this album sounds a little bit older and more mature. It's been two years since the last one, and you can really hear our journey on this record."^[4] She further explained that “metal resistance” has been a recurring theme, often mentioned on their world tours. With the ideas of exploring what they can do, and their primary message of Metal Resistance, which is "to get everyone to come together as one", the name was chosen as it was the representation of the band at the time.^[5]

Comparing the record to the band's previous album, Yui Mizuno explained the band's challenge toward more music genres than before, as well as the inclusion of more positive lyrics. With the desire to send messages to the fans, the band also recorded a song in English, specifically "The One". As a result, more people would get to listen to the band's music.^[5] In a Loudwire interview, Moa Kikuchi described her experiences and feelings toward their sophomore release.

We were on the road touring for two years so we had a lot of confidence in the album. To be honest, we were anxious if we could make a better album than the previous album, but when I listened to the finished new Metal Resistance, it was such an interesting new album I was relieved and definitely full of confidence.^[6]

When asked about the decision to release two different versions of the album for the Japanese and international release, Kobametal stated that he did not want to deal with editions of the song having bonus tracks. "Syncopation" had a significantly Japanese feel to it, so it would present a more Japanese quality to the track listing. On the other hand, the song "From Dusk Till Dawn" contains elements of electronic dance music inspired by Skrillex, with inspiration from the bands Linkin Park and Bring Me the Horizon. This song seemed quite different from anything else in the band's repertoire, so the two track listings could tell two different stories starting from "Road of Resistance" and ending with "The One".^[3]

According to The Japan Times, the album consists of a formula with some elements of "1980s hair metal and symphonic metal, which are perhaps more suited for mixing with J-pop than metal’s edgier subgenres."^[7] The album draws from various subgenres of metal; “Karate” contains elements of groove metal and nu metal,^[8] "Tales of The Destinies" derives from technical progressive metal, "The One" is inspired by symphonic metal, and "GJ!" has metalcore guitars with electronic flavors with rap metal.^[9] "Sis. Anger" is played mainly in black metal.^[3] To contrast, the Su-metal solo "No Rain, No Rainbow" is described as an "epic ’80s power ballad", while "Meta Taro" is more synth-driven with Viking metal.^[1] "Yava!" contains elements of ska and is described as having "clean guitars and punky, almost staccato verses" ramping up into "driving metal", while "Amore" is reminiscent of their previous record with elements of melodic speed metal.^[3][9] “Awadama Fever”, like "Gimme Chocolate!!", follows genres of drum and bass and bubblegum pop.^[7][9] The Japanese exclusive track "Syncopation" has elements of visual kei, while the international exclusive track "From Dusk Till Dawn" has a speed contrasting "Meta Taro", being faster and featuring "an epic, film soundtrack-worthy feel" and falsetto vocals.^[3][9]

In a Loudwire interview, Su-metal described the lyrics of "Awadama Fever", such as "mint-flavored time machine": "This song has a lot of kawaii elements. I have an impression that even though it's metal, it brings out a lot of our kawaii bits."^[6] Mizuno described the lyrics of the album as "very positive and have a lot of motivational elements to them. I hope that this record will uplift our listeners, and inspire them." Kikuchi expressed the goal of Metal Resistance: "We hope to be able to unite the world through music on this album - for it to be the bridge between us and the listeners. This is something we've put a lot of emphasis on with this album."^[4]

Metal Resistance was announced in December 2015 to coincide with news of a new world tour, with the album's title confirmed in January 2016.^[10][11] On February 19, the band released the artwork and track list for the three versions of the album, along with a February 25 release date for the album's lead single, "Karate".^[12] On February 25, 2016 (2016-02-25), a teaser for the album was released on the channel, featuring the song "Karate", which had been released as an airplay single the same day. The album was released to music stores in Japan on March 29, 2016 (2016-03-29), three days before the worldwide release date.^[13] On April 5, 2016 (2016-04-05), the band performed "Gimme Chocolate!!", from their debut album Babymetal on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, marking their first appearance on television in the United States.^[14] On September 14, 2016, the limited edition of the album was re-released in commemoration of returning to Japan on the Babymetal World Tour 2016: Legend Metal Resistance, packaged with a paper jacket.^[15]

Notes

• Herman Li and Sam Totman appear on "Road of Resistance", and are featured artists on the United Kingdom digital release.
• "Karate", "Yava!", "No Rain, No Rainbow" (only in the Japanese edition), and "The One" are stylized in all caps.
• "Tales of The Destinies" is cut shorter on "The One" limited edition to transition into "The One".

Credits adapted from Metal Resistance booklets^[50] and Google Play.

Personnel

Production