BABYMETAL

10 Babymetal Budokan

COOKING VINYL

The Fox God’s disciples mark a decade of delirium

IT’S TANTALISING TO imagine a bookies in 1970, and the odds you’d get for putting money on a band called Black Sabbath spawning an ever-evolving genre that would last for more than 50 years. Imagine, then, the spectacular winnings you could have pocketed for betting that the same genre’s fifth decade would be dominated by a trio of Japanese teen pop stars.

Contentious it may be, but it’s hard to think of a more omnipresent act that’s appeared. Recorded during the last of a series of 10 anniversary shows at the live album mecca in Tokyo, a COVIDmandated halfcapacity crowd adds its enthusiastic voices to the festivities behind the masks that have been handed out. Without the visual aid of the screens, choreography, pyrotechnics and 360° stage, it all comes down to the audio element. And here, the backing Kami Band are on particularly precise form, delivering some of the finest pop metal anthems you could wish for in any decade.