Why Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello loves Babymetal
Babymetal's upcoming fourth album, Metal Forth, features some seriously high-profile collabs, with stars including Poppy, Slaughter To Prevail's Alex Terrible and Spiritbox's Courtney LaPlante guesting alongside Su-metal, Moametal and Momometal.
Also making an appearance is former Rage Against The Machine man Tom Morello, who adds some incendiary guitar to the song Metali!!., originally dropped as a single in 2023. The title is a portmanteau of 'metal' and 'matsuri' – the word for a traditional Japanese outdoor celebration, hence the cries of 'wasshoi wasshoi' and 'dokkoisho', which are a signature of matsuri-inspired songs.
In the brand new issue of Metal Hammer, we speak to the guests on the album, including Morello who discusses his admiration of Babymetal and how his appearance on Metali!! came about. This is what he has to say.
How far back does your relationship with Babymetal go?
Tom Morello: 'I've been a fan of Babymetal since I first heard them. I reached out to their management when I was making my Atlas Underground album [in 2018], which was a collaborative work with various artists, and at the time they were unavailable, and I was disappointed. Later on, they reached back out to me, asking if I was still interested in collaboration. Of course, I jumped at the chance.'
What was the brief for your contribution to Metali!!?
'I love heavy riffs, and the Babymetal Metali!! song has a collaborative heaviness that I think in many regards fits very well in my riffology catalogue. I also shredded some solos on the track.'
What's your standout memory of working with them?
'One of the most amusing parts about the collaboration was making the video, which I shot remotely. Normally you're asked to do a video on a green screen, and when you do a video on a green screen you can't wear any green. Well, this was a video that they wanted me to do on a black screen, so I just assumed I couldn't wear any black, which of course is the standard colour for all rockers to wear most of the time. So, I ended up in an outfit that looks like I'm on vacation in Cuba or something like that!'
What do you think about Babymetal being on the scene?
'I love what they have brought to the metal scene. It is an absolute breath of fresh air to have a band that has a completely different spin on a genre that often runs on the same cart tracks.'
Have you had much of a chance to hang out with them?
'I had the chance to meet Babymetal backstage at a European festival last year, and they could not have been more lovely and demure, and just a delight to talk with and to hang out with. They were very sort of giggly and excited, and then they went onstage and they did their dances in their somewhat giggly and excited way, and all these massive riffs came crashing down on a crowd that just went absolutely bananas. Babymetal – thumbs up!'
Read our exclusive new interview with Babymetal and a full track-by-track breakdown of Metal Forth in the brand new issue of Metal Hammer, available now. Order it online and have it delivered straight to your door.
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