“I’m not sure what I’m about to see–but I’m pretty excited about it.”

This was the introduction by Stephen Colbert to the US premiere of the band BABYMETAL on The Late Show last night. The Japanese metal/J-pop mashup band performed the song “Gimme Chocolate!!” from their new album Metal Resistance.

If you’re not familiar with the band, this is a trio of young girls with pigtails and ribbons in what looks like a Hot Topic bandit group doing boy band moves with the occasional devil horns thrown in. They sing happy pop songs with a heavy metal band (dressed in something resembling Kabuki costumes) playing some serious guitar riffs. No, you haven’t had an aneurysm. You read that all correctly.

You’re trying to imagine the reaction from Colbert’s audience, aren’t you? Well, they actually went crazy! BABYMETAL has a huge following outside of the states. You may find your head tilting to the side like a dog hearing a weird noise when you watch, but you can’t turn it off.

The group consists of Suzuka Nakamoto as “Su-metal”, Yui Mizuno as “Yuimetal”, and Moa Kikuchi as “Moametal.” Can’t take them seriously? Well, you should. They were the youngest people to perform at the heavy metal music festival Loud Park and did a promo video for Metallica‘s film Through the Never. They’ve performed at festivals with Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth. They’ve even opened for Lady Gaga. They were the youngest act to perform at London’s Wembley Arena and hold the record for the most merchandise sales for a single day event in the venue’s history.

Go ahead. Watch. Then tweet us @Nerdist and let us know what you think of “kawaii metal.” Preferably with gifs.

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HT: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Image credit: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert