Now, before you start jumping up and down, let me say this upfront: Cute Metal is not a thing as such, not an actual genre, no matter how much weebs try to convince you it is, but more of a description of the type of music and stage shows of cutesy bands from all over the world. I’m not only thinking here of Babymetal, who pioneered Kawaii Metal in Japan in the early 2010s, a genre that combines the noisy barrage of Heavy Metal instrumentation with J-pop melodies and idol aesthetics and vocals – I’m also thinking here of Charamel, a Visual Kei band comprised of only yuru-chara (i.e. mascot characters), among them internet celebrity Nyango Starr, an apple-themed mascot who is one sick drummer. And looking beyond Japan, and if we stretch the meaning of “Heavy Metal” sufficiently, the alternative emos of the Slovakian band Pentagramček deserve a mention too. They play Satanic versions of children’s songs.

Some Cute Metal bands to check out:

• Babymetal
  • Band information
  • Spotify
• Charamel
  • Band information
  • Youtube
• Ladybaby
  • Band information
  • Spotify

Related (sub)genre(s):

Take me back to the sample overview.