This post has been updated over time with more interviews and videos from Bring Me the Horizon

As announced a few weeks ago, BABYMETAL is featured on a track of Bring Me The Horizon’s latest EP. The track is called “Kingslayer”.

BABYMETAL is not just featured on “Kingslayer”, they have a small part in the song that intro’s it, “Itch For The Cure”.

You can find the album on all the usual streaming services, as well as sold digitally. It’s also available in physical for on the Bring Me The Horizon store in CD, vinyl, and cassette form.

The song/album had leaked a week ago online, seemingly a regular thing for songs nowadays.


Itch For The Cure & Kingslayer

Official YouTube link for “Itch For The Cure (When Will We Be Free?)”

Official lyric video for “Kingslayer”


Interesting Facts

Here are some things that the band members from both bands have stated about the production of the songs:

  • The collaboration was tried in 2019 but Bring Me the Horizon were not happy with their side of the song so it was pushed to later.
  • BABYMETAL wanted to do the song in English, but Bring Me the Horizon asked them to do it in Japanese.
  • The entire thing was done remotely, due to the pandemic.
  • Last song recorded for the EP.
  • Ollie vocals go much heavier than they have done recently to have the contrast with Su’s voice.
  • After Ollie asked them to sing in Japanese, he shared the ideas and concepts of the song and BABYMETAL sent them back a very organized table with multiple versions of lyrics in Japanese and the translations.

Interviews and Behind The Scenes Content

Video Interviews and Behind The Scenes

October 29th – Oliver Skies talks about every track on the EP.
Itch for the Cure (8:25 – 9:34)
Kingslayer (9:34 – 12:05)

October 30th – Oli Sykes talks more about the collaboration and relationship (At 5:13)

November 6th – Behind the Scenes and Comments by Bring Me The Horizon, including some Behind the Scenes of BABYMETAL (at 8:39 – 9:07)

November 27th – Making of Kingslayer, including footage from the 2019 joint tour (as well as Summer Sonic 2019) and SU-METAL & MOAMETAL Interviews

December 11th – Some extra Behind The Scenes Content and some extra from the SU-METAL and MOAMETAL interview


Text Interviews

November 2nd – Jordan Fish on the collaboration – Wall of Sound Au (technically via audio)

“Amy Lee was like one of those throwaway suggestions like ‘that might be cool’ and then over time it became ‘if she doesn’t do it, then… it feels like the stake of the whole record depends on if they come back and do it or not and it was the same with BABYMETAL. We had that song [Kingslayer] and it was like ‘BABYMETAL would be cool’ and then once the stuff had gone to them, then we’re just like ‘If we pull this off and BABYMETAL are on it… this song’s gonna be so fucking sick!”

“They’re definitely one of them bands we can relate to in a way… They mix a lot of different styles, they’re not your standard band. They are really nice girls and they have a very nice team around them. Every time we meet them we always get a good kind of energy…”

“They came back with an English verse and Oli [Sykes] just replied to them ‘is there any chance you can do something Japanese?’ and they were like ‘Really?’ and [he] just thought it’d be cool if the [track] was in their actual language”

Jordan Fish for Wall of Sound Au

November 4th – Oliver Skyes on BABYMETAL – NME

After Japanese metal sensation BABYMETAL told NME that they’d love to one day work with Bring Me, now they appear on the track ‘Kingslayer’.

“We wanted to do something with them for ages,” Sykes told NME. “We’ve got a really special connection with them, even though we don’t speak the same language. We don’t hang out or have conversations, but when you see them, it makes you really happy.

“They work so well with the whole idea of this record being cyber-punk-y. It sounds like an anime TV trailer.”

Oliver Skyes for NME

Charting

November 3rd – Kingslayer at #10 on the UK Trending Songs Chart

November 6th – Kingslayer is #51 on UK Singles Chart

References & Theories

Matrix

Something great picked up by /u/jabberwokk over on Reddit:

I have yet to see anyone talk about The Matrix references (another cyber dystopia), so here we go. The very first time I heard Kingslayer at 3:01-3:11 I thought of the sound effect at this point in the film.

Leading into it is Itch For The Cure with lyrics which are basically what Morpheus is saying to Neo in their first meeting, still inside the Matrix.

“I know why you’re here
you’re fed up of the fear
sick of the fantasy world
they’ve built so you never see clear

something is coming unplugged
there’s a glitch in the Matrix your trust

you’ve got an itch for the cure
but you’re scared to walk out that door
I’m here to tell you that
there’s a universe that lives without law

something is coming unplugged
’cause you keep asking yourself
when will I be free?”

The sound effect occurs at the end of that meeting, as Neo’s connection to the Matrix is disrupted and he wakes in his pod in the real world and is unplugged.

Kingslayer has additional things going on in it, it is casting a wider net, but still:

“This is your wake up call (phone call to exit Matrix and wake up)
We’re going down the rabbit hole (Morpheus)
Are you ready?”

and

“System failure
Silly program
You’re corrupted”

Also other lines like puppets with strings cut which work as well in that dystopia as in others. It could even be Morpheus or Trinity singing “I’d sacrifice my life to find you / I’d sacrifice it all to guide you”, or alternatively any of the people willing to aid The One / the Kingslayer in toppling the status quo.

Oli mentioning the inspiration.

Oli confirms it in this comment

“Oli here to tell you that’s exactly what I asked mick Gordon to do.. make me sound like neo going into the matrix.. so kudos on noticing that!!! I referenced the exact scene you are talking about”


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