Women in Heavy Metal Music Bands

For a long time, Metal Music was considered a space for men only. The approach to music that Metal Music originally had was not one that everyone loved. There were those that hated metal music and there were others who really loved it. For a long time the lyrics surrounded themes like: rebellion, violence, destruction, death and sometimes some of the themes revolved around sexual violence against women. It seemed impossible for a time to come where women would want to participate in this kind of music. However, things seem to be moving in a different direction. Unlike the past where female fun base for metal music was really low, it has now increased in great numbers. Apart from this, there are now quite a number of women in heavy metal music. Below are some of the women in heavy metal music bands.

Evanescence

Evanescence was founded back in 1995 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The band was started by Amy a singer and pianist and Ben Moody who is a guitarist. This was one of the very first bands with a female front doing heavy metal music. When they started the band, there were not many bands doing this kind of music that had women lead singers. They therefore got a lot of criticism for moving along the road less travelled. However, they have been able to stick to what they do and they have attained a lot of success. Amy is a phenomenal singer and their music is the kind of music that really gets to you by evoking all kinds of emotion. This band should receive a lot of support from metal bands with female singers because in a way, they opened the door for other bands with front women singers to get into the scene. If you love heavy metal music, you should definitely think about listening to some of the songs by this band.

Nightwish

Nightwish is another example of a metal music band that has a female lead. This band was founded back in 1996 by Tarja Turunen the lead singer of the band, Emppu Vuorinen the guitarist, Toumas Holopainen the band’s keyboardist and lead song writer. Many people who have have made reviews about this band claim that the only reason they are so successful is because of their lead singer Tarja. This is actually true. She is a very talented musician who has done a good job of pushing her band forward. However, a lot of credit still goes to their songwriter and guitarist since they have also done some heavy lifting in pushing the band forward. This is one of the women in heavy metal music bands that have been able to gather a large female fun base. When compared to Evanescence, this band is more successful in the kind of music they produce and the amount of fans they have been able to get through their music. Their music also sounds more of heavy metal compared to other female lead metal bands.

Lacuna Coil

Lacuna Coil is one of the best Italian heavy metal music bands. This bad is based in Milan. This band was founded back in 1994 and since then, they have changed their name twice. Some might know them as Ethereal and others might know them as Sleep of Right. Lacuna Coil has had to overcome some challenges since they started. They have had a hard time trying to figure out their sound and this has made it difficult for them to maintain a steady fan base like other bands have been able to do. However, there is no doubt that Cristina Scabbia is one of the best female musicians in heavy metal music. Time and time again she as shown that she is capable of evoking emotion through the use of her unique voice. This is something that some men in heavy metal music are not able to do. This is one thing that validates women being in the heavy metal music scene. As more and more women display such great talent, there seems to be hope that even more women are going to join these style of music. They might even dominate if they get very good at it.

Arch Enemy

Arch Enemy is an example of a band that is made up of very talented artists. This is probably because most of them where in different bands before they founded Arch Enemy. Some of the bands the members of Arch Enemy were in before forming this one include: Eucharist, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Armageddon and Spiritual Beggars. The band is Swedish and it was founded back in 1996. Since then, it has been one of the best death heavy metal music bands of all time. Angela and Alissa have proven that they can maintain powerful vocals and keep producing great music over and over again. This is an example of a band that produces albums you can listen to over and over again without getting bored. The fact that there is more than one woman on this band is something that has been a great encouragement for a lot of women looking to get into this kind of music. It has also generated a lot of female fans.

Within Temptation

Within Temptation is a band that always delivers when it comes to performance and creating hit albums. It is a Dutch band that was created back in 1996 and since then, they have not once failed to give their fans original content. Everything from their performance, setting and costumes keep the viewer excited and entertained. This is something that cannot be said about all women heavy metal bands. This is also an example of a band that has been able to win over very many fans to this type of music. They have a large fan base mostly made up of females but there are a good number of males who are huge fans of these bands.

Conclusion

All in all, it seems like women might just dominate in the heavy metal music scene. This is because they are already doing a great job even after being at it for only a short time.

Sexuality in Heavy Metal Music

A Glimpse at how the Modern Culture Views Heavy Metal Music and Sex. Those who consider themselves a bit old school know that the popularity of the heavy metal music genre peaked sometime in the early to mid-1970s. It initially started as a sub-genre of mainstream rock and roll. then it was fully being assimilated into the modern pop culture as a standalone genre. But unlike rock and roll, heavy metal is considered to be a little more liberal and distinctively thematic especially as far as sexuality is concerned. For instance, groupies of heavy metal rock stars are not just enthusiastic fans but also seen as sexual elements of the artiste’s social life. Which, of course, draws a peculiar connection between heavy metal music and sex.

The Portrayal of Women in Heavy Metal Music

Realistically speaking, the portrayal of women – just like most Western music genres – is decidedly sexual. In that, the visual language of heavy metal music videos uses the female sexuality to intertwine and express sexual desire through either the portrayal of the female body or voice in the lyrics. In other words, from the perspective of heavy metal music, women are not seen as just women, but as beings just playing their sexual and gender roles. For this reason, this kind of perception has a way of reducing women as merely sexual objects to be gratified and put on a pedestal only for the sexuality that they can bring to the music and not their personality.

That being said, as observed earlier, the female groupies of heavy metal music bands are not viewed merely as adoring fans. On the contrary, they are seen as a faction of the band whose role is to bond sexually with the male members and sometimes provide ‘sexual services’ before, during and after concerts. And the same is reflected throughout their performances – both live and recorded – as evidenced by the micro mini skirts, spiked heels and fishnet stockings that these groupies sport in most heavy metal music videos. In fact, before the advent of the Youtube and MTV age, groupies of hard metal music rockstars were used to stage wild backstage parties for shooting private music videos that weren’t accessible to the main public domain.

The Music Videos

Heavy metal music videos, just as the genre itself, have a strong sexual annotation which, once again, proves the overlapping connection between heavy metal music and sex. For starters, both men and women who star in these videos are typically in excellent physical condition with only a handful of such rock stars being morbidly overweight, such as the legendary meatloaf. Not only does this reveal the underlying sexual undertone of heavy metal music but also serve as a way of sexually stimulating the fans and viewers in a sinister dark way.

The Lyrical Content

One of the clearest connection between sex and Heavy metal music is often seen in the songs’ lyrical content. Most of it is what can be considered as lewd or taboo/slang in a conservative or religious settings. But this is not surprising as heavy metal music was dominated ever since its inception by sexual violence, agitation and content depicting sexual and physical aggression. What’s more, most often than not, the sexual nature of these lyrics is often reflected by how the rock stars treat their female dancers or groupies in the metal scene. In fact, the lyrics often directly or indirectly advocate and encourage the sexual control and domination by the male members. It is also one of the main contributing reasons women are treated and seen as mere sex vessels in these music videos and concerts. Most songs in this in this genre are quite literal and the recording artists will rarely hold back when it comes to describing intimate sexual content. If anything, a majority of these tracks have a title that directly depicts or alludes to sex. Which, as a matter of fact, makes it challenging for music from this genre to be approved for airing over mainstream public media channels.

That being said, perhaps the best practical link between these type of hard rock music and sex is evidenced by the fact that many people often find it to be just the perfect backdrop for lovemaking, particularly where both partners wishes to express their unfettered animalistic selves.