Stretching from the ancient earthiness of Shintoism to the unbound futurism of science fiction, BABYMETAL’s complex, often chaotic internal lore can confound even their most fierce fans. Kneeling at the altar of the Fox God, we attempt to unpick what exactly is going on in their narrative, from flaming crucifixions and coffin-shaped spaceships, to the very heart and soul of metal itself…
Inari Ōkami is the traditional Japanese deity of foxes. According to legend, they descended from Heaven astride a white fox during a time of great famine, sparking the growth of new crops in the barren fields and rice paddies. Indeed, the word Inari translates as ‘rice bearer’ and after their first shrine was founded at Inari Mountain in 711 CE, they became a key figure in both Buddhism and the country’s indigenous Shinto religion, representing first rice and foxes, but evolving as a beloved patron spirit of agriculture and fertility, industry and prosperity as the centuries passed.
BABYMETAL’s own Fox God isn’t exactly one of the Inari’s own messengers – their kitsune – but there are fascinating parallels between how a farmers’ goddess transformed into one of modern industry, and how what started with a pointy hand gesture sparked an impenetrably complex lore.
Legendary vocalist Ronnie James Dio is broadly accepted as having popularised the metal horns (though, with numbing inevitability, Gene Simmons tried to trademark it). Initially flashing audiences the Italian ‘Malocchio’ (the ‘Evil Eye’), early fans were quick to conflate it with Satanism and to presume that the raised fingers were representing Lucifer’s horned skull. When MOAMETAL, SU-METAL and YUIMETAL discovered heavy sounds, rather than throwing the horns with an otherwise closed fist, they pressed their thumbs against the tips of their middle and ring fingers in what was seen as the kitsune sign. Consequently, a whole new fox-tastic mythos materialised.
Whispers of the Fox God circulated abstractly for years. The kitsune hand symbol became a BABYMETAL trademark. Megitsune from their earliest recordings explored the feminine imagery of the vixen and female tendencies tend to keep intense emotions hidden. But it was during the seminal Red Night and Black Night shows on March 1 and 2, 2014 at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan that KOBAMETAL introduced himself to weave together the narrative threads.
“Once upon a time the world was overrun by the Big, Powerful Idols,” goes the loose translation. “They controlled politics, the economy and the mass media. The Apostles prayed for the restoration of metal and were heard by the Fox God, who brought together the members of BABYMETAL as a fusion of idol music and metal so prayers would be answered. The young girls were faced with many trials, but despite their youth and uncertainty they triumphed, becoming legend. The Big, Powerful Idols raised the kitsune, the symbol of the METAL RESISTANCE, and war was over.”
Really, it had just begun. The story was as overwhelming as it was intriguing, but no nugget was more important than the trio of red coffins BABYMETAL would end those shows by stepping into – their method of transport to spread the kawaii metal gospel out into the METAL GALAXY.
Conceptually, METAL RESISTANCE would become a saga across 10 interlinking ‘episodes’ that would define BABYMETAL’s first decade. Having self-evidently overcome the oppression of the old idols, though, the challenge would be to find fresh adventures to undertake and new battles to fight. Beginning on July 7, 2014 at London’s 2,300-cap O2 Kentish Town Forum, BABYMETAL’s first world tour would pick up where they left off at Nippon Budokan, with a Star Wars-style opening crawl explaining that the civil war in a Metal Galaxy far, far away had ended, but now that “all roads lead to Europe” as they undertook a “holy pilgrimage” to a land where the music they’d come to love was born.
On one hand, this was canny window dressing for the logical next step: an overseas tour to metal’s most enthusiastic international market. On another, it was classic sequel scriptwriting, taking our protagonists into an unfamiliar setting and revelling in the exponentially greater levels of strangeness. But it was all a journey deeper down the Foxhole, with the Fox God himself reinvented as The Big Fox and personified separately by The Four Heavenly Kings like an alternative version of thrash’s Big Four. When they rolled back into London at the 5,000-cap O2 Academy Brixton on November 8, 2014 to restart the cycle, thousands of new disciples were along for the ride.
From the KISS Army and Metallica’s ‘family’ to Slipknot’s maggots and Ghost’s congregation, giving fans a named role is nothing new for massive, theatrical bands. Even still, THE ONE felt different.
Introduced at the beginning of METAL RESISTANCE, BABYMETAL’s version of an extended fanclub came melded with the highest of high concepts. Progressing from stone-smashing prehistory to the infinite possibilities of the digital age, humanity had lost something deep inside. The Fox God was challenging to plug that gap. And what would fill it? Long-awaited new tune Road Of Resistance unveiled to 20,000 fans at a sold-out Saitama Super Arena on January 10, 2015.
Cynics’ eyes were already rolling at the absurdity of self-promotion via self-fulfilling prophecy. Still a year out from the release of 2016’s seismic second LP METAL RESISTANCE, BABYMETAL might already have jumped the shark. Were incomprehensible diminishing returns really all that was left?
Not exactly. Doubling down on ostentatious pageantry and embracing ever more outlandish symbolism, they trusted fans to do the same. Henceforth, April 1 would be Fox Day, when important announcements would be shared. Important shows would become Fox Festivals, as much about paying tribute to the vulpine overlord as screaming along.
The band’s 2015 Saitama show would begin a Tokyo trilogy, completed by performances at Makuhari Messe and Yokohama Arena. Staggering in their own right, they were just the precursor to September 2016’s two-night residency at the Tokyo Dome – Saitama, Makuhari and Yokohama forming an almost perfect triangle around Bunkyō’s 55,000-cap final destination. Tales of a cosmic metal promised land called El Dorado and the Metal Ark, and a magic electric guitar that could transport fans there, lit up that series of shows. As did the bewildering crystal neck braces which captured the force of fans’ headbanging and emitted it as spirit-cleansing light. If metal has long been about expunging demons within via cathartic escapism, no-one had delivered it quite this boldly.
Ever escalating, 2017’s FIVE FOX FESTIVAL was even more bizarre. Five ‘metal souls’ had been passed down to five colour-coded foxes across Japan. Each would be getting their own show with its own strict rules of admission. The Black date was males-only, Red was similarly restricted to females. At Gold, only teenagers could gain admission, the Silver show was just for elementary school children and adults over the age of 60. At the White gathering, meanwhile, anyone could gain entry – as long as they were wearing corpsepaint. Was it a revolutionary exercise in busting norms and exposing music to new audiences? Or just plain weird? Both.
Fascinatingly, this era also co-opted Christian imagery representative of rebirth and resurrection: the three points of the aforementioned triangle alluding to the three core members of the band as a sort-of holy trinity. White-veiled Destinies would appear at the Tokyo Dome and again at London’s Wembley Arena, as well as in the video for Karate to prove BABYMETAL’s old selves were left behind. Repeating one of their favourite motifs, SU-METAL was even ‘crucified’ on a burning symbol.
Chronicling every oddball detail across the decade of METAL RESISTANCE would be as exhausting as exhaustive. More pointed is how the mythology shapeshifted to mirror real life. Milestone 20th birthdays for SU-METAL and MOAMETAL were folded in with landmark hometown shows in Hiroshima and Nagoya. YUIMETAL’s 2018 departure precipitated the arrival of the Avengers: a trio of backing dancers who “materialised from three flaming arrows shot into the sky”. The need to engage an American Kami Band when their Eastern regulars were unavailable gave rise to a Gods Of The East Meet Gods Of The West subplot. The darker tones of their more grown-up sound were justified by THE REVELATION: an epiphany on metal’s balance between hope and fear.
Most impressively, when plans to conclude the METAL RESISTANCE saga on October 10, 2020 were derailed by COVID, they pivoted to make their triumph in the face of a dystopian world part of the concept, too. The eventual 10-night run back at the Budokan was an extraordinary, definitive realisation of their ultimate themes on good defeating evil and defiance in the face of hardship.
Normally artists elevate themselves over long, hard careers. BABYMETAL flipped the script, starting with the myth and working back to become living legends.
Vibrant lore might have been BABYMETAL’s foundation, but it would also become a rod for their backs. Following those 10th birthday celebrations, the band were ‘sealed’ from the world. As well as carbonite-encased sci-fi fantasy, it was a bold way to draw a line under what they had achieved, and tie up the threads of an ever-more-tangled backstory. No-one knew if they would return.
But in true comic book fashion, a version of the band was still reachable, out there in their adventures through the multiverse – or The Metalverse – to get going again after a soft reboot. THE OTHER ONE’s 10 different tracks from 10 different realities may have seemed like a narrative get-out to some, but it offered the potential to strip back, experiment and challenge preconceptions without ever more convoluted twists in the tale.
Not much has been revealed about how METAL FORTH fits in. The band have explained that the concept of the record is “to go beyond metal” and to shape the future of the genre itself. Collaborations with everyone from Poppy to Polyphia to Electric Callboy mean that cross-pollination itself is the crux of the story. Does such an extended supporting cast make it harder to knit into a nuanced narrative? Probably. Plus, there is simply no longer scope for theatrical horseplay when you’ve already got more bangers in the bank than you can reasonably hope to cram in.
Aficionados of the Fox God should fret not, however. World domination was always at the heart of the mission. You can practically hear the canine yaps of approval every time the audience raise their voice. And BABYMETAL’s most enduring mantra is practically a guarantee that the band will eventually return to their pointy-eared beginnings: “Every time there is an end, there is a beginning!” Life moves in cycles. And the most cunning orchestrator will always be watching and waiting right around the bend…
This feature originally appeared in the special-edition Kerrang! Presents BABYMETAL magazine.
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