“DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!”
Sometimes, I get really tired of writing. It’s probably why these articles end up being late every damn time. Trying to think of good opening lines or hooks to pull you, the reader, in when I’m fairly confident you’re probably just here for the photos because how could you possibly relate to my subjective experience of these bands or live music in general? Yet, here I am, all self-deprecation aside, about to rattle on about why you should have been at one of the BabyKlok Tour shows regardless of which of these two juggernauts in their own rights is your favorite. Let’s get on with it, shall we?
I made it out to the YouTube Theater, part of the SoFi Arena complex, on a Thursday night for some god damned metal music. It just so happened that this night, October 12th, was the final night of an incredibly successful co-tour between Japanese Kawaii Metal progenitors BABYMETAL and Animated Melodic Death Metal band –who are coincidentally the most popular band on Earth– Dethklok. Joining along for the ride was one of the most technically skilled and all-around excellent performers, Jason Richardson.
To say that Jason Richardson is absurdly talented is just a simple fact. This man’s hands are so damn fast that no still image truly does him justice, and unlike some other instrumental progressive metal acts, he is able to shred through incredible solos while also moving around the stage and engaging with his audience. Not to dig TOO hard, but there is nothing more boring to watch than a hyper-skilled musician staring at their own hands for an entire show. Richardson might honestly be a real-life Skwisgar Skwigelf, but more on that later.
It should come as no surprise to anyone at all that I’m a fan of Metalocalypse. What may come as a surprise is that this was my first time ever making it out to one of their live shows, but god dammit if it didn’t make up for all the missed opportunities of the past. From the beginning of the show, we were set up for a good time. The band, consisting of Small (vocals/guitar), Gene Hoglan (drums), Nili Brosh (guitar), and Pete Griffin (bass), played mostly silhouetted so as not to take away from the animated visual aspect that fans know best with a plethora of incredible moments peppering throughout the show.
Between songs, we saw animated interruptions by Dethklok’s Mascot, Facebones, instructing the audience with hilarious fervor on how to properly enjoy a metal show by remembering to shower and wear deodorant or not to get too drunk or stoned before a show because “No one wants to deal with your dumpy ass.” At one point, all the lights went dark while Small voiced his three characters from the show, Nathan Explosion, Skwisgar Skwigelf, and Pickles the Drummer to much laughter and applause, especially when Skwisgar referred to Jason Richardson as an “AIs guitarist.” Probably my favorite song of the night (and they’re all bangers) was the closer, “Go Into The Water,” which featured Hoglan’s wife, Laura Christine, on third guitar joining on stage for an epically heavy performance. It may have been ten years, but I certainly hope Dethklok will be back much sooner!
BABYMETAL might be one of the most divisive bands to ever appear on the heavy metal scene. Old guard gatekeepers all balked immediately at the concept of an Idol Group playing heavy metal bangers about chocolate and chewing gum, and while even I’ll admit that those sorts of songs are not particularly interesting to me, I have absolute respect for the sheer amount of work that goes into being an idol performer, and even more respect for their backing band who have the skill and ability to go toe-to-toe with any death metal, prog-metal, or doom-metal shredders out there.
I may not be the most knowledgeable about Japanese Idol Groups, outside of being a bit of an anime junky, but I know enough about them and, more specifically, about how much work goes into them to have respect for anyone who sticks it through and reaps major rewards. It’s not an easy feat, especially for a group that, as far as everyone else around me seemed to be saying, started out as a bit of a joke, to not only break new ground in one of the most repetitive business models of Japanese Pop music but also to take it to huge international success. The girls were lovely, talented, and had what felt like a boundless energy playing an array of songs from throughout their four albums of material, including some of my favorites like “PA PA YA!!” from Metal Galaxy and “Monochrome” from The Other One, but the biggest treat for their fans was the encore inclusion of “Ijime, Dame, Zetai” which was only performed on this particular night.
