LIONESSES OF METAL

Female growlers

Women in metal music do not have an easy life. Female metalhead is usually treated like a sexual object, superfluous add-on, or at best as a nice decoration. In the following article I would like to present a few female metal vocalists, very strong personalities and talented artists. They are pretty much different from one another but there's also a common thing. I mean, they are all using growl and scream as their primary singing style. Women of flesh and bones, there's no doubt about it. Nevertheless listening to their vocal parts you would have to check this fact once again. Go ahead!

LORI BRAVO
Let's start from Laura Bravo, more commonly known as Lori Bravo. It's safe to say she is a godmother of female growlings. As you might know, she was formerly the lead singer and bassist of American death metal monster NUCLEAR DEATH. The band released five full length albums and splitted up some time ago. Later on Lori founded a punk band RAPED. Now she is performing under her own name. Her unpredictable and ultra- brutal way of singing on the first two NUCLEAR DEATH's albums shortly became Lori's trademark. The way she screams perfectly reflects her sick personality: „Music burns through my veins like battery acid! I use Arte' to keep myself out of sanitariums and prison in hopes that I will be studied and talked about for hundreds of years after my death. Death and I have been lovers for some time now...but the Devil likes to court and woo me as it is He who wants my hand in marriage...”. Perfect girl!

CORINNE VAN DER BRAND
Not so well known in music industry, Dutchwoman possessing an extremely brutal, powerful and dangerously chaotic vocal- mighty Corinne Van Der Brand! She was formerly known as a lead singer and bassist of Dutch doom death metal band ACROSTICHON. Corinne had a great ability to scream at the top of her lungs as well as to growl out of her guts. Her way of singing many times was compared to Martin Van Drunnen's screaming which speaks for itself. Unfortunately, Corinne has nothing to do with music anymore. She left the music scene many years ago. Too bad! The more so because she is definitely one of the best female growling vocalist in extreme metal music history.









KARYN CRISIS
Extremely talented and creative female artist. Karyn Crisis has always been considered as one of the most charismatic persons on the scene. She has experimented with sculpture, photography, painting, drawing, performance art, clothing design and of course- music. After receiving a scholarship to Parsons School of Design, Karyn moved to New York City where she joined experimental metal band CRISIS. The band recorded four full length albums. They all met with a very good response from critics and fans and one of the main reason for such good reviews were definitely Karyn's vocal parts. Her way of singing was very extreme and maybe a bit chaotic, but also quite original and unique. Karyn is currently focusing on her other art activities. She lives and works in the Bay Area, CA. CRISIS is on indefinable hiatus.

SABINA CLASSEN
German vocalist Sabina Classen is one of the very first female singers who never wanted to sing in a traditional way. Her professional career officially started in 1981 when she joined thrash metal band HOLY MOSES where her then- husband and famous producer Andy Classen was playing guitar at that time. After break-up of the band in 1994, she founded another thrash act TEMPLE OF THE ABSURD. The band released two albums and splitted up in 2000. The same year, Sabina reformed HOLY MOSES and the band is still functional. Her vocal parts are powerful as hell. Raspy screaming and yelling is something that Sabina is best known for. She is the empress of European metal scene.










ANGELA GOSSOW
Angela Gossow is a well known vocalist of Swedish melodic death metal band ARCH ENEMY and one of the very few successful female metal singers. Previously she was associated with German death metal bands MISTRESS and ASMODINA. As she claims, her way of screaming is highly inspired by such guys as Jeff Walker, David Vincent and John Tardy. And it can be heard. Her voice sounds like roaring of lioness. How did she become interested in that kind of music and vocals? „I started listening to this kind of music when I was 15. I discovered it through a radio station. I didn't rally know that this was labeled heavy metal or death metal. I liked the raw brutality, basically. I though this fit my rebellious self. I was a girl and I really liked skating and lots of male things. I guess I've got lots of aggression hahaha! A dominant male side, somehow. I really liked this music, and I liked the kind of intensity in the scene, too: people sticking together, people going to shows together, and partying together. I mean, I really like this music, or else I would have stopped listening to it when I was 20 or so...”




RACHEL VAN MASTRIGT HEYZER
Rachel Heyzer is another Dutch singer in our list. Her career started at the end of 80's in death thrash metal band from the Netherlands called SACRAMENTAL SACHEM, then she joined death-grind monster PATHOLOGY and started screaming in much more brutal and direct way. In 1994 she became a member of OCCULT- the rising star of Dutch thrash- death metal scene. After two albums recorded with this band Rachel was asked to join the most famous death metal band from the land of tullips, namely SINISTER. And she agreed. At that time she also took over vocal duties in INFINITED HATE- a side project consisted of SINISTER members. Rachel's singing manner can be described as a typical for brutal death metal style of growling. She has such a powerful, deep and rough voice that many metal machos can only dream of.







CANDACE KUCSULAIN
Candace Kucsulain is a female frontman of American metal- core band WALLS OF JERICHO. The band established themselves as one of the leading acts on worldwide metal scene and the credit for this success goes also to Candance. Actually, she doesn't growl, she just scream in most direct and vicious way you've probably ever heard. What actually led Candance to scream in an extreme band? She explains: „When I was younger I liked a lot of different stuff (music) like, I believe 6th grade I started listening to BEASTIE BOYS, I started getting into punk stuff, MINOR THREAT, and then getting into more grindcore, not so much metal at that point, a little bit of METALLICA, but any real death metal or anything. So, just different types of music influenced me all the time. And HOLE — I liked HOLE a lot, because she had this more aggressive thing going on, she wouldn't just sing and preach, she didn't give a fuck, which I love that, I love that attitude, and then I went more screamy, so there's a lot of other bands, that kinda verge on that, like singy/screamy stuff. I went to a local hardcore show, that was the first time I really fell in love with hardcore, I saw the scene and what it meant to people, and how it was a bunch of people, just there for a good time and even if you're screaming, it's one of those things that's all emotion, you're screaming cause your putting your body into it, you're putting everything you have in, because your pissed off at something, or you're upset with something. Scream at the world, basically, so that's why I like it."

MEL MONGEON
Mel Mongeon is a lead singer of FUCK THE FACTS- metal/grindcore/noise act from Ottawa, Canada. Well... first of all I must admit, there are not so many female fronted bands, playing such an extreme kind of music. The band is around since 1999. Those last nine years have been very productive for them. They have released nine full length albums, one live record and uncountable number of splits, EP's, singles and so on. Mel Mongeon joined the band in 2002, becoming a permanent member of FUCK THE FACTS. I look at her pictures and still can't believe she is responsible for vocal parts on such efforts as "Backstabber Etiquette" or released this year "Disgorge Mexico". Her vocal parts sound like a pig getting electrocuted or strangled with barbed wire. Don't listen to her screaming if you have weak nerves!