Like Babymetal? Here’s 4 More ‘Kawaii’ Metal Bands To Blow Your Mind

BabyMetal became an internet sensation earlier this year when the video for Give Me Chocolate (Gimme Choco) went viral, but who'll be the next Japanese metal band to go global?

Doll $ Boxx

A ‘supergroup’, of sorts, formed by the fusion of Gacharic Spin with vocalist Fuki from the band Light Bringer, Doll $ Boxx (pictured above) sound like four radio stations playing at once, mixing electronic, pop and metal influences into colourful, chaotic bursts of effervescent noise.

Destrose

Built around the super-technical shredding skills of guitar Mina, this Tokyo quintet describe themselves as an “orthodox” metal band. Orthodox clearly means something else in Japan…

Aldious

Fronted by former model and J-Pop singer Rino Nikaido, Osaka’s Aldious have three albums to their name: 2013’s District Zero gave them their first Top 10 hit in their native land.

Bridear

Formed in 2013, Fukuoka five-piece Bridear released their debut mini-album Overturn The Doom in December. Heavy, technical and less cutesy than their peers, they might be the most likely to appeal to ‘true’ metal fans. Though, frankly, after BabyMetal’s success, we’re not trying to second-guess things too much.

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.