4.) Babymetal

Come on, let’s just admit it: a huge number of people at Heavy Montreal were really, really near-uncomfortably excited to see small Japanese children singing over crushing metal riffs. And guess what? It was awesome! If a band like Dir En Grey can have a completely legitimate following within English-speaking countries, then there’s no denying the combo of J-pop weirdness, Visual Kei elements and amps-on-full blare that Babymetal provides. And for those who may only know of them through the absurd press photos, pay attention to their corpse-painted backing band, all of whom churned out Symphony X-caliber solos during a performance that left a lot of the crowd begging for more. Even though you can’t judge this as a band and more as a true performing act, these guys are for real.