Kerrang! – July 12, 2019

74 KERRANG!

KKKKK = CLASSIC KKKK = EXCELLENT KKK = GOOD KK = AVERAGE K = POOR

Photos:

ED MASON

BABYMETAL

+ AMARANTHE, SLEEP TOKEN

O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON,

LONDON

02/07/2019

KKKK

Fresh from tearing up Glastonbury,

BABYMETAL bring their new

Metal Galaxy to the capital...

Y

ou will see, hear and experience

many things over the course of a

BABYMETAL show. Your ears will

feel as though you’ve fallen into an

arcade game, in which someone is

playing every power metal song ever recorded

at the same time. Your eyes will be dazzled by

enough lights to ring in the new year in Tokyo.

Your limbs will attempt to recreate the dance

routines going on onstage. At some point, you

will yell along, laugh as the glorious absurdity

hits you, and stare gormlessly at a uniquely OTT

show that, almost a decade after the band first

appeared, remains a crazed joy to behold.

You will not, however, get bored. Not while

BABYMETAL are on, anyway. Sadly,

although the appearance of mysterious

openers Sleep Token in their black

robes may promise something equally

grandiose, there’s little in the way of

energy or engagement. Musically,

the shadowy electronics often seem

like they’re building to something,

but what that might be never actually

materialises, making for a slow start.

THE NEXT

GENERATION