Metal Forth

Metal Forth is the fifth studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Babymetal. Originally scheduled for release on June 13, 2025¹, it was delayed several times and eventually released on August 8, 2025. It is the first Babymetal album to feature Momoko Okazaki as an official member and the first to be released following the band's signing to Capitol Records. Metal Forth peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200, becoming the first Japanese act to chart in the top ten in the United States.

Metal Forth is the fifth studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Babymetal. Originally scheduled for release on June 13, 2025, it was delayed several times and eventually released on August 8, 2025. It is the first Babymetal album to feature Momoko Okazaki as an official member and the first to be released following the band's signing to Capitol Records. Metal Forth peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200, becoming the first Japanese act to chart in the top ten in the United States. ==Background== Metal Forth was announced on April 1, 2025. The title is a play on words, meaning "beyond metal" and referencing the band's view of it as their fourth studio album. It is the first Babymetal album to feature Momoko Okazaki as an official member since she joined the band in 2023 after the departure of Yui Mizuno in 2018, and the first to be released following the band's signing to Capitol Records in early 2025. The collaborative nature of the album marks a departure from the band's previous albums, with only three of its tracks lacking a guest artist. It has been noted for the varied backgrounds of said artists as it features Tom Morello, Polyphia, and Poppy from the United States; Spiritbox from Canada; Electric Callboy from Germany; Bloodywood from India; and Slaughter to Prevail from Russia. The album was produced by the band's creator Kobametal, whilst the opening track was co-written and produced by Jordan Fish of English band Bring Me the Horizon, whose 2020 song "Kingslayer" featured Babymetal. ==Commercial performance== Metal Forth debuted at number three on the Oricon Combined Weekly Albums chart for the week of August 18, 2025 with 24,374 equivalent album units, debuting at the top of the Digital Albums chart with 2,264 first-week downloads, debuting at number three on the Physical Albums chart with 21,723 sales, while also topping the Rock Albums chart. The album also managed to chart on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart at number 15 for the week of August 13, 2025. In the United States, Metal Forth debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 for the week of August 23, 2025, with 36,000 equivalent album units earned, of which 2,500 units were acquired from streaming units equivalent to 3.28 million on-demand official streams, and 33,500 units were pure album sales, allowing the album to debut at number two on the Top Album Sales chart and giving the act their biggest sales week. The former chart placement also marked the first time an all-Japanese act charted a top ten album in the history of the Billboard 200. ==Promotion== On the October 23, 2024 Babymetal announced a 2025 UK and European arena tour, beginning on May 10, 2025 in Belgium and ending on May 30, 2025 at the The O2 Arena in the UK, becoming the first Japanese musicians to headline and sell out a show at the latter venue. Tour dates for the North American leg of the tour were announced on March 15, 2025, with dates ranging from June 13 to July 23, 2025, with a finale show later announced for the Intuit Dome in November 2025. Babymetal World Tour 2025–2026 ==Track listing== All songs are produced by Kobametal. Additional producers are listed below. ===Notes=== signifies a co-producer. "Kitsune of Metal God" refers to a god figure frequently mentioned in band materials and interviews (often as "Kitsune-sama" or the "Fox God"). Official credits under this name are registered to Kobametal. "From Me to U" is stylized in lower case. "Ratatata" and "Metali!!" are stylized in all caps. The three U.S. DTC digital editions (episodes 1-3) include exclusive selections of track-by-track commentary as well as "Sunset Kiss" (live from the O2). ==Personnel== Credits adapted from Tidal. ===Babymetal=== Su-metal – vocals Moametal – vocals (tracks 1–6, 8–10) Momometal – vocals (1–6, 8–10) ===Additional musicians=== Jordan Fish – guitar (1) Julian Gargiulo – guitar (1) Stephen Harrison – guitar (1) Poppy – vocals (1) Daniel Klossek – bass (2) David Friedrich – drums (2) Daniel Haniß – guitar (2) Pascal Schillo – guitar (2) Kevin Ratajczak – vocals (2) Nico Sallach – vocals (2) Jack Simmons – guitar (3) Matthew K. Heafy – shamisen (3) Alex Terrible – vocals (3) Karan Katiyar – guitar (4) Jayant Bhadula – vocals (4) Raoul Kerr – vocals (4) Daidai – guitar (5) Megmetal – guitar, programming (6, 8, 9); bass (8, 9); arrangement (8, 9) Scott LePage – guitar (6) Tim Henson – guitar (6) Mike Stringer – guitar (7) Courtney LaPlante – vocals (7) Ryu-metal – guitar, programming (9) Tom Morello – guitar (9) Leda – guitar, bass (10) Tatsuometal – programming (10); arrangement (10) Kyotometal – arrangement (10) ===Technical=== Ted Jensen – mastering Zakk Cervini – mixing (1, 7), engineering (7) Daniel Haniß – mixing (2) Egor Krotov – mixing (3) Karan Katiyar – mixing (4) Tsubasa Ishibashi – mixing (5) Megmetal – mixing (6, 8, 9) Tue Madsen – mixing (10) Watametal – engineering Drew Fulk – engineering, additional mixing (7) Julian Gargiulo – engineering, additional mixing (7) Josh Gilbert – engineering (7) ==Charts== ===Weekly charts=== ===Monthly charts=== ===Year-end charts=== ==Release history== ==Notes==

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