Your boss can take his micro-managing bad breath and endless stupid ideas that are a road to nowhere and stick it under his half-priced toupee. With your check in hand and the entire weekend to jam out, liberation has come. Floating down the highway your car just seems to find the liquor store (how does this keep happening?), and you skip down the aisle looking for the tasty suds that will wet your whistle. Continue reading “Femme Fatales Part 2”
Greetings to all you crazy and passionate metalheads. It’s time for another Top Ten List. I hope you readers have been enjoying what everyone has been doing thus far. Today, we will embark on a list full of talent, creativity, and beauty. What does that entail? Well for today’s Top Ten List, we will be going into the world of Female Metallers. Now I know not everyone is fond of female singers or other positions, in the female world of metal, but today I hopefully can maybe change your opinion on that, towards something more positive. The list is full of hopefully familiar names and also hopefully unfamiliar names that I can get you to recognize. I initially started with about twenty metal females and had to cut my list in half. That was very tough, considering I listen to a lot of metal with female leads. Who comes to mind when you think of women in the metal world? We will work our way from my number ten female, down to my number one female.
10 – The Great Kat
Without a doubt, the Queen of Speed and Shred, The Great Kat, has been named as one of the fastest shredders of all time. Her distinct metal music is unheard of 
coming from the female metal world. A name I have rarely heard in all my years of listening to metal, her performances and music are extremely underrated, and unfortunately with time, her recognition and fame slowly degenerated. Raised in New York, her effortless talents have been compared to that of Yngwie Malmsteen. Her name has been mentioned in many top 100, 50 and 10 lists, and now today in this list. What else can I say……she’s definitely a Guitar Goddess. Watch out for her crazy persona. Check out the songs Metal Messiah and Beethoven Mosh 5th Symphony.
9 – Lita Ford
Another woman that has been around for decades with her work with the band, The Runaways, in the 70’s, Lita Ford, went on a solo career in the mid 80’s. At the time, female solo artists was extremely rare. Her music ranges from Glam Metal to traditional metal. She released three albums before going on a very lengthy hiatus to raise her two children. In June of 2008, she made her comeback with a few appearances, then it was full speed again in 2009 with festival appearances and a full tour. Lita then went on to release two more albums in 2009 and in 2012 which really touched on her roots. For her time, she was one of the heavier female metal artists. Who knows what her next album will be like? Check out the songs Gotta Let Go and Betrayal.
8 – Otep Shamaya
Her name is a complete given as to what metal act she screams and sings for. To this day her band has released 6 albums, 
and their lyrical theme reach out to the realms of Religion, Politics, War and other controversial aspects in our society. Her lyrics are very intense which I admit, I admire. She has been active for over a decade now and according sources, lives a vegetarian lifestyle and is an open lesbian. Her vocal ranges go from average singing to screaming. Over time I notice that her brutal vocals have been toning down and now keeping a general sense of scream. As well as being a singer, she was an actress, is a poet and also does painting in her spare time. She spoke at the 2008 Democratic Convention as well as being on a live televised poetry show. I am impressed for a band that has been highly active since their debut over a decade ago. Check out the songs Warhead and Rise, Rebel, Resist.
7 – Sharon den Adel
One of the founding members of Within Temptation, singer Sharon den Adel, is placed seventh in my top ten list. Her vocals range from semi-high notes to regular rock vocals. She has been with the band since their beginning in 1996. She begun her singing career when she was 14, collaborating with local and national artists in her native country of Netherlands. Her vocals really fit with the Goth scene, which many of their songs do tend to follow a Goth trend. Then on after that, her singing career took on a full speed ahead direction and up until now, the band has released 6 albums. Her presence also collaborated with other famous artists and acts. She is slowly making a name for herself internationally and she is still making music with her band. Check out the songs The Howling and the epic song, Our Solemn Hour. The review on her band’s latest EP can be found here.
6 – Tarja Turunen
Perhaps one of the biggest names in metal overseas, Tarja Turunen, is a former singer for the band Nightwish and now
she has gone solo. I did a review on her latest album not long ago, hopefully you read it. If not, check it out here. My review there pretty much sums up the Operatic singer. Her works with Nightwish will always be remembered, but her solo material is not as recognized as much. Credits to her for going the route that she wanted, instead of doing what the majority wanted, plus sources say that she was not really fitting for her former band anymore. She has worked also with the previous female on this list, Sharon den Adel. One majorly impressive bit of news is that in one of her songs, she can reach a scale from F3 to D6. That is quite the register there. Lets hope no one has any glass nearby. As of now, her solo career is still booming and moving along, so I am quite certain we will hear more of her in the world of metal.
5 – Simone Simons
What an interesting sounding name. I’m sure she has had that said to her many a time, for Epica singer, Simone Simons, is my number 5 female on this strong list. Her works with Epica, begun in 2002. Up until this day her band has released 5 albums, soon to be 6. They recently released a DVD of their tenth anniversary as a band. Her voice also ranges in many notes. Her voice also has been described at the perfect bridge between Gothic and Symphonic Metal. Their music also has been described as aggressive, and bombards you with progression, and pure epic majesty. I also did a review of their last album which can be found here. Also check out their vigorous songs Unleashed and Martyr Of The Free Word , a must for all the headbangers.
4 – Floor Jansen
Another artist to collab with other artists, Floor Jansen, has been associated with many acts such as Ayreon, MaYan, 
After Forever, ReVamp, and now more recently, she was announced as the new front lead singer for legendary band, Nightwish. Her work with After Forever, lasted for about twelve years until about 2009 when she started a new project with other musicians and later revealed to be named, ReVamp. The band is still around and has released two albums so far. The band is still highly active to this day. Then it wasn’t announced until closer to the end of 2013 that she would be replacing the lead singer of Nightwish permanently and securing her spot with them. Her next project now is the lead singer role for the second album for the band, Avalon. Boy, is she taking on many roles or what? She is working double time plus overtime. Let’s hope her works don’t all blend together and start sounding the same. For now she is really becoming a big name in the metal scene in Europe. Keep it up at this pace and her name will be legendary, she is gonna make a bigger name for herself, watch out. Check out the song Equally Destructive from her former band After Forever, and check out one of her first powerful performances with Nightwish, with the song, Storytime.
3 – Liv Kristine
And now, we enter my top three Metal Females. If you have been keeping up with my reviews and the website, this name should not be new to you. But just incase, let me refresh your mind. Liv Kristine is the former vocalist for Theatre of Tragedy and more importantly and more known, the singer for Leaves’ Eyes. She has been the singer for the band for ten years now. Her works and vocals are indistinguishable. Her lyricism with the band goes through the realms of Norse Mythology and the Viking Era, among a few other areas in history. Talk about doing your homework there. Not many bands pay homage to such events, which I very much respect. She has been in the world of metal since 1994, so this year will mark her 20th year in the music industry. What an accomplishment. Her vocal skills also range many degrees and notes. Without her voice, the band would not be where it is at at this point in time, plus she is married to co-singer Alexander Krull, so it would be a bit awkward if she were not there, not to mention difficult. She also has collaborated with big names like Cradle of Filth, Delain, Tyr, Atrocity, and Primal Fear. I truly hope that her and her band do not leave the metal scene anytime soon. For the band has only begun their long journey of heavy metal. Check out my reviews of their last two albums here and here. Also check out the songs Elegy, Melusine, and Legend Land.
2 – Angela Gossow
A fan of Arch Enemy, since as far as I can remember, singer…errr should I say, growler/screamer 
Angela Gossow is the powerful frontwoman for the Swedish Melodeath quintet. She became the singer for the band in 2000, when the former singer was forced to leave the band. 2 years later, her health took a turn towards bad luck for she was having issues with her throat which almost cost her, her voice. Luckily after some vocal training and therapy, her voice growled like new. Her vocal influences include large names such as Chuck Billy of Testament, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Rob Halford of Judas Priest. I believe she paved the way for women to use the growl, after her rise with Arch Enemy, other females begun to use the growling technique as well. If you were to listen to her, you would think a man was growling. She also collaborated with my number one Metal Female on this list, don’t scroll down just yet. Angela’s name is very big overseas and in the world of death metal overall. Next to Power Metal and Symphonic Metal, Melodeath is my ulitmate sin. She is the Queen of Growl. One small bit of interesting news, she made a guest vocal appearance on the show Metalocalypse. Check out the songs We Will Rise, Nemesis, and Yesterday Is Dead And Gone.
1 – Doro Pesch
And now my #1 rated Metal Female is here! Doro Pesch or Doro as she is more commonly known, is another woman I believe, deserves to be at the top of the metal females. In the metal scene since the early 80’s, she begun with the metal band Warlock. She was the front for the band until the late eighties when the rest of the band members left and she was forced to change the band name to Doro. She eventually regained the rights to the name of Warlock in 2011. After the eighties occured, she begun focusing her talents in native America for a short while then hit high success in Europe in the 90’s. Many of her albums hit top charts in Europe and toured with other famous metal acts from overseas. Nearly a decade later and she would leave her former sketchy record label for a new one as well as signing another deal with a record label in the U.S. Finally in the 2000’s, she was known as the Queen of Metal. As of now, she has released sixteen albums under both names, and has worked with many other famous metal acts, including many of the ones I mentioned here in my list. She has accomplished so much in the 30+ years that she has been in the metal scene. Why is she my #1, you ask? For me, hard work, dedication, and more importantly, talent, all come together and describe Doro. She certainly without a doubt is a major name in metal worldwide. Hopefully she can give us many, many more years of metal with her. Check out the songs Raise Your Fist In The Air and I Rule The Ruins.
That is it. That is my list of my top 10 Metal Females. Hopefully I have inspired you to seek out more info on these lovely, talented, strong women. The main things I looked out for that decided who made my list were dedication, length they’ve been in the biz, and again, talent. Please leave any comments on what you thought about my list, I worked very hard to put this together for all of you readers out there. And as I hoped from the start, I hope I sparked some interest so you can check out the variety of talent that is out there. The world of metal is always expanding. Stay Metal m/
I have recently been on a tangent reviewing for the most part, metal bands with female lead singers. Today will be no different, which I am assuming most of you already would know, judging from the name of today’s artist. She is no stranger to the world of metal, in fact she is perhaps known as the “Queen of Operatic Metal” and has an Opera Soprano voice. Her voice is easily recognized by many in the metal community. She was a former singer for the band, Nightwish, also worked with Doro, The Scorpions, Within Temptation, and a few others. In my opinion, she is one of the most beautiful women to exist and grace the metal universe. Tarja Turunen, has released her fourth album entitled, Colours In The Dark. The album title refers to all the colors that are out there and they are always all absorbed by darkness. The Finnish singer had experienced both positive and negative experiences while writing the album, to show off the richness of the album in terms of color and shadow. At first listen, many of the songs are something to get used to, but whether you are a new fan or an old fan or even an average fan, I believe the songs can speak to most. Since becoming a solo artist, Tarja has sold over 100,000 records in her native country of Finland as well as being invited to many large events like hosting a webchat where over 6 million viewers were registered thus breaking records for attendance at a webchat. To this day she is in the top 50 best-selling female soloists of all time. This album is a bit different than her previous works, so that puts her in a slight risky position, especially for someone who only has a few albums out and is a solo artist. The album also is a classical music and metal crossover, drawing in influences from many genres of music not just classical music alone.
We kick things off with Victim Of Ritual, and may I say, its a rather luring and slightly evil song. As the album title is described, the video for this song very well exemplifies that theme. You see a few people who inherit one color, primary colors in fact, red, yellow and blue and they fight what looks like shadow people dressed in all black. As the artist in the video paints on a canvas, the black lines he draws, “clash” with the other colors he already laid down on the picture earlier, thus the real life fighting taking place showing off a clash of colors. I was a bit impressed and slightly underestimated the video from initial reaction, also her rolling of her R’s when she says “Ritual” is new and innovative, Ill credit her that! 3 minutes in and then let the light headbanging commence. 500 Letters, definitely gives off an alternative and metal feel with hints of goth elements to it. The song is quite addicting, I found it stuck in my head at certain points throughout my day, plus the rather daunting solo also gave it that worthy push to give it a listen. Never Enough has a darker edge to it. Tarja being an operatic singer, you never know when she will dish out those dark tunes. There was not much lyrically, but instrumentally, it was sound. Dark riffs and simple drumming, and the lyric video to this song really took advantage of the color idea again. I am glad its been true with the album name. Mystic Voyage is a decent song, I personally like the melodic, chanting opera vocals that did not sing any words. Though I will mention that the song is sung three languages, English, Finnish and Spanish. What a surprise that sure is. Neverlight, really gave me another side to look at Tarja. The beginning of the song begins with some edgy riffs, almost badass in a way, and may I add its a bit heavier than I expected from Tarja. Don’t let her signature singing throw you off, at least pay attention to the instrumentals and you can say you see what I mean when I say heavy. The slight breakdown and light headbanging riffs really tell that she can get heavy if she wants to. The final track, Medusa, features singer, Justin Furstenfeld, whom is the lead singer for alternative band, Blue October. The song is average in my opinion, hints of heavy guitar work and instant hard drumming made me fell like it was gonna be an explosive ending, but the song was not as heavy as I was expecting it to be. The song really is just a ballad between Justin and Tarja, I thought I was watching an opera show or soap opera or something related to that matter. Anyway, I wouldn’t recommend it to brutal headbangers.
Overall I would give the album a 6.5 out of 10. Beauty wise, she rates an even higher score. As you would expect, the album is full of Tarja’s soprano voice magic and the instrumentals are not as heavy as Nightwish or alike. If you would like to listen to something rather obscure in the metal world, give this album a shot. With being a hungry metalhead, sometimes not everything satisfies my metal stomach and ears, this album merely tamed my appetite for a bit and gave me a temporary fix. I pretty much knew what I was in for as soon as I hit that Play button. Tarja has already kicked off her Colours In The Dark World Tour, in support of the album. Unfortunately Tarja fans in the states may have to wait a while, if she does decide to come to the US to tour as well, for the US is not listed as one of her stops on the tour. Had she still have been with Nightwish, then maybe that would be a different story all together of course. As I mentioned, Tarja isn’t really an artist I would recomment to your general or extreme metalhead. Since this album came out in the late summer, there are currently no talks of her next album. Her name is highly established and we will continue hearing her name for many, many more years to come. She is still a high successor as a solo artist. In my views, her voice certainly has paved a way for Operatic elements to blend with metal elements. Metal has to continue evolving, just like everything itself. As one of her songs mentions, “There’s no going back, what we used to be.” Stay Metal m/
More Infomation can be found on her Official Website, Facebook and Twitter Pages.
The Metal Alchemy 