IRON LADIES
ALL FEMALE METAL BANDS
As Vince Neil of Motley Crüe once said in the 2008 documentary Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, it was all about “getting paid and getting laid.” Since the days of said groupies, the world of heavy metal has arguably expanded its equality, continuing the legacy of The Runaways and Janis Joplin with soaring heights, seen ánd heard in the likes of Anneke Van Giersbergen, Angela Gossow, Floor Jansen and Myrkur – to name just a few. Yet upon delving deeper, one finds them mostly backed by men as they take the mic stand into their own hands. And though women in heavy metal have truly aspired and reached great accomplishments, one might find themselves wondering: are metal women only on vocal duties? And are they always the lone wolves in a rooster-dominated culture? Or is there more to it?
In that vein, I went out on a limb into both my own musical library and a website dedicated entirely to the vibrant-yet-more-hidden underground domain of all-female metal bands - http://www.metaladies.com/. Here are 6 of them that I find myself both returning to and looking forward to.
CASTRATOR (Death Metal, USA)
Putting out the No Victim EP in 2015, Castrator quickly rose to underground fame, their aggressively feministic death metal becoming a nigh metal myth that sent chills down many spines. Lyrically, Castrator does not take a step back and is right up in your face: the vehemently violent content is about settling the score with all injustice done to women across the ages, and that message is brought forth by a crushing wall of sound that features signature downtuned guitars with groovy rhythms, stampeding drums with just the right amount of variation and a display of guttural vocals. Policy does not exist in the Castrator dictionary; only emasculation.
Nervosa (Trash Metal, Brazil)
Brazil has been the cradle of many styles of metal in the past, and in the present too. One of the many bands to emerge from the rich metal scene of São Paolo is Nervosa. Their unrefined trash metal with its rich lyrical content goes to great lengths and impresses more with each record, the latest being 2016’s Agony reminding you best of the early Metallica and Exodus records, dealing the cards in the same pessimistic, socially-conscious lyrical vein. As they mature with each record, Nervosa might very well grow to be passed the torch of trash in the near future. Curious? Nervosa is out on tour right now with Teutonic masters Destruction!