Wednesday night, Houston was the lucky first stop for the wickedly awesome co-headlining “Babyklok” tour combining two unique throat punching bands; Babymetal and Dethklok. Hosting the sold out show was 713 Music hall, now one of Houston’s most popular music venues. Thousands of gothic attired fans poured into the building and you could literally feel it in the air how stoked everyone was to be there. The merch booths for both Babymetal and Dethklok were insanely long… I mean, almost out the door- long. When I finally was able to make my way to the front just to check out the options I could actually understand why. Both bands are such oddly impressive bands, everything they create and present is just simply… art. So needless to say, I understood why everyone was determined to get their hands on some merch. If it wasn’t such a crazy line and wasn’t in a time crunch, I probably would have tried to score some myself.
The venue went dark and Dethklok visuals emerged to the massively large screen behind the silhouette of the band and instantly the crowd went nuts. “Deththeme” blasted through the speakers sending every chill throughout my body… First thought? holy shiz, these guys are insane. Dethklok is obviously known for their animations and their parodic lyrical themes so to say they are interesting to witness in person… is an understatement. You almost catch yourself lost in the haze of the visuals while your mind is just being taken over by the intensity of the melodic death metal grooves. Masterminds. These guys are literally masterminds. For those who don’t know, Dethklok was made popular by the cartoon show Metalocalypse which was canceled in 2015 but fast forward eight years later, they are still killing it in the live entertainment industry for us weird death metal lovers and most of that can be thanked to Brendon Small, the main vocalist and genius behind it all.
Continuing with their seventeen song setlist including “Awaken”, “I Ejaculate Fire”, “Thunderhorse” and more, the growls and hostile riffs were at an all time max leading into mosh pits upon mosh pits and just all around chaos- in all the good ways. These guys really know how to blow your minds and give you those eye pleasing visuals, all while holding you by the throat and screaming into your face. It’s honestly a blast to see Dethklok live, it’s different and weird, but in all the best ways. Ending their set with a live debut “SOS” and “Go Into The Water” Dethklok sure as hell kicked off this co-headlining tour with the most brutal yet beautiful performance and if you’ve never seen or heard of them before, I strongly suggest you do that.
It was now time for Babymetal. I’ve never seen or really listened to Babymetal before, other than their feature on Bring Me The Horizon’s “Kingslayer”… which I am a fan of, so a tiny part of me knew what to expect but was still intrigued at the same time. Opening their eleven song setlist with “BABYMETAL DEATH” The whole vibe of the room completely changed… and I mean drastically changed. Everyone was pumped up, screaming, jumping, and just going complete crazy. I caught myself just watching like a star gazed child in a candy store. Their style, their energy, their charming voices… was just incredible and adorable. I don’t even really know how else to put it. These girls really know how to put on a show, and this is literally me thinking all of this within the first song. The main thing I was interested in was their on-point dance moves. They were all in sync in a way that almost felt robotic… they were captivating in so many ways. The backing band behind the trio was also on point as well, all hiding behind masks but really standing out to me with their electrifying riffs and beats. It takes a whole lot of talented individuals to make Babymetal… Babymetal and it was clear that everyone involved has been doing this for a long time. The Japanese Kawaii metal gang continued with many hits including “Gimme Chocolate!!!”, “PA PA YA”, and “Monochrome” and at this point, easily everyone in the crowd was on their feet and jumping along with them.
Babymetal was a very interesting band to experience, it was almost oddly therapeutic in a way. The visuals and lighting were pure perfection, and the girls are just the most fun and energetic little things i’ve ever seen. Overall, Houstonians were blessed with a really incredible show Wednesday night as Dethklok and Babymetal kicked off their US tour with a memorable concert.
BABYMETAL
DETHKLOK
Photos + Review by Krystie Archer | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!