Recommended reading

Babymetal win the Heavy Metal World Cup 2018

Features
By ( Metal Hammer ) published

Babymetal have been crowned the winners of the 2018 Heavy Metal World Cup

Babymetal

It's official: Babymetal are the winners of this year's Heavy Metal World Cup.

They won the first tournament back in 2014 and have managed to make it the double after defeating Nepal's Underside in the final. It was a close fought battle with the Japanese trio winning with just 59.95% of the vote, so Underside should not be disappointed with the loss.

The World Cup, which started with bands representing 16 nations, saw Babymetal fend off Alestorm, Within Temptation and Immortal to reach the final, with Underside knocking out Wrust, Sepultura and Rammstein.

Heavy Metal World Cup final brackets

Babymetal are yet to comment on their monumental win, but their fans (and detractors) are likely to be very vocal. Following their victory in the 2014 tournament, this video was posted on YouTube.

Luke Morton

Luke Morton joined Metal Hammer as Online Editor in 2014, having previously worked as News Editor at popular (but now sadly defunct) alternative lifestyle magazine, Front. As well as helming the Metal Hammer website for the four years that followed, Luke also helped relaunch the Metal Hammer podcast in early 2018, producing, scripting and presenting the relaunched show during its early days. He also wrote regular features for the magazine, including a 2018 cover feature for his very favourite band in the world, Slipknot, discussing their turbulent 2008 album, All Hope Is Gone.