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Babymetal Goes Desi in Collab with Indian Metal Band Bloodywood
posted on by Adriana Hazra
The Japanese heavy metal idol trio Babymetal released a single in collaboration with Indian metal band Bloodywood on Friday. If that news wasn't exciting enough for fans of either, their new single "Bekhauf" has a fully animated video where the band members take on heroic anime-esque avatars.
The video is animated by Goppo Animation, an Indian animation studio based in Mumbai and Kolkata. Warner Bros. previously had plans to produce an original shortform series based on Babymetal, so fans are thrilled to finally see them in 2D. Although it should be noted that GMB Chomichuk (Insane Jane, Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection Vol 1) drew a graphic novel based on the group in 2018 in collaboration with producer Kobametal and Hollywood production company Amuse Group USA.
The title of the new single is the Hindi word fearless. And in true Bloodywood fashion, the track features lyrics three languages. However, this time Japanese is in the mix as Babymetal comes in for their chorus.
Babymetal popularized the "kawaii metal" genre that also includes groups like Deadlift Lolita, Ladybaby, and Doll$Boxx. The group initially formed in 2010 as an offshoot of the Sakura Gakuin idol group. The trio of performers, Su-Metal, YuiMetal, and MoaMetal, appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in 2016 to promote their album Metal Resistance. The album went on to rank on the U.S. Billboard's Top 200 at #39 in its first week, the first time a Japanese artist broke into the chart's Top 40 in 53 years.
Bloodywood originally started off as a "meme band" in 2016 with parodies and metal covers of Indi-pop music. They moved on to more serious music in 2019 with their singles "Jee Veerey" and "Endurant" both donating some proceeds to relevant social causes. They did the same for their 2020 single "Yaad," donating the proceeds of the band's 2019 European tour to Posh Foundation, an Indian NGO (non-government organization) for homeless animals. After touring and releasing music independently for eight years, the band signed with Fearless Records on October 18.
