Female Fronted Metal, it's not all a load of crap!

I wonder, why are most female fronted metal bands reeeeally lame? Don't get me wrong, there should be loads more ff metal bands out there! I'm all for it! It's just that the most immediate (and sadly, most successful) examples are all cheesey, gothy and mostly enjoyed by people who aren't into metal, but kind of like the rebellion that is associated with it (see Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, Nightwish, and all the other power metal bollocks that sound exactly like Nightwish).

Although, I tend to feel that ff metal bands that aren't all gothic and operatic are still really poor metal. It might be the lack of screaming, ff bands don't tend to scream too much (which sucks because women will be able to screech like guys will never be able to) and I feel it let's them down. Take Flyleaf for example, not one of my recommended bands but perfectly respectable nonetheless; and the lead singer can SCREAM. The only trouble being that she doesn't scream nearly as much as she should! Here, watch this video for their song 'I'm So Sick':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCon0QojjYA



Did you hear that scream!? I wanted to hear more of that! It's a good song without more screaming but it might give the group a bit more authenticity as, I feel screaming a lot tends to make bands less accessible to those outside of the metal community, as it is it sounds a bit soft.

It's not all that bad though, the lack of awesome bands gives people like me something else to whine about, and also makes the bands that do exist that much more endearing!

For anyone interested, female fronted metal bands I would recommend include;

Khlyst


and Thorr's Hammer (both fronted by Runhild Gammelsæter)

iwrestledabearonce

the newest line up of Agorophobic Nosebleed

Matriarch (give it some time and you'll see what I mean)

The Agonist

and Arch Enemy (of course).



Thanks for reading people! If anyone has any other ff metal bands to recommend please don't be shy! :-)

Date: 8th of August. Venue: The Bitter End Romford. Acts: Nothing Gained, Black Polaris and When All Else Fails.

So finally I am treated to a night of senseless brutality! The Bitter End had promised the up-and-coming Bleed From Within and the melody raping Hideous Miscreation! But alas I am disappointed again, as it soon transpires that both had pulled out and hastily the bill was filled by unheard of (by me) Black Polaris and When All Else Fails; bands that are also dedicated to bludgeoning it's audience to death sonically, so my disappointment was short lived.

First band up however were the aptly named 'Nothing Gained', a female fronted (sighs) nu-metal like band from the London/Essex area. Inspired by this band, I have begun writing a separate blog on the topic of female fronted metal bands and the sad state of most of them being really fucking lame, so look forward to that!

For me, this band summed up EVERYTHING I hate about the Essex alternative scene; the main point being that mostly it's members are stuck in the past. By 'the past' I mean these people seemed to have stopped being interested in new bands/styles in the scene around about 2001; so Linkin Park, long dyed black unconditioned hair and chains on jeans are still genuinely enjoyed. Nothing Gained look, sound and smell cheesier than Fred Durst after a 2 year tour of the world, with no shower and being completely fuelled by Wotsits.
Their sound was a Tesco's value grade soup of all the most obvious bands to be a fan of in the alternative scene of the last ten years; Korn, Slipknot, Machine Head, Disturbed etc. Combine this with a deplorable lack of stage presence and you end up with a band that has fuck all to give... Oh! Nothing Gained! Now I get it!
The fishnet-clad lead singer to give her her due, could sing and scream well; but as the rest of the band drowned her out it hardly seemed worth her being there at all!

Now I could go on and on about the bands appearance, believe me! But as the main criticism I've been getting has been that I write too much, I'm just going to proceed onto the next act; Black Polaris.

Black Polaris are as Deathcore as it gets; fringes, skinny's, bruuutal band logos on their t-shirts, and planet heavy breakdowns with glass shattering screams and brown note growls. Since Deathcore is the big issue in metal culture today, I would like to declare my colours; I quite like it. I like it in the similar sense of when people say they like Girls Aloud, it's the metal equivalent. It's not really doing anything different or special but nonetheless it's entertaining. Predictable but enjoyable, kind of like Suicide Silence.
Black Polaris give it a hefty go at trying to get the audience going, but as the Romford alternative scene hasn't quite got death metal yet (presumably because of it's lack of turntables), the most the band gets is a few lads down the front and a few pricks at the back shouting "you're shit!" Shame.

I'm barely over the fact that Nothing Gained had a longer set than Black Polaris, when 'When All Else Fails' begin. The Terminator 2 theme heralds their arrival and builds the tension; it's a bit of a cheesy move, and one that is sooooo 21st century pop culture reference humour, but I'll never say no to a sweet injection of nostalgia. The first thing I wrote down when this band started playing was; "talent". They seemed so comfortable onstage! Leaping, flopping and running about on/off stage and into the feeble crowd, passionately requesting for the crowd to move forward and giving the finger to the loud mouths at the back. This band were a joy to watch, fast, furious and simply too big for the Bitter End.
Primarily a hardcore band, obviously some second wave death/deathcore influence though, with some great screams and chugging guitars.
The only problem being the short length of the set; I'm sure WAEF could have gone on all night for the small collection at the front who cared, but alas licencing forbids them from continuing.

Here is where I end for this week; apologies for how long it took to get this up on Blogger, life's a complex rubix cube and it throws you a few curve balls. Priorities etc. Any, hopefully you enjoyed this blog and you'll read my next featuring;

Electric Child House
States of Emotion
The Jayways
and
London Blackmarket

Peace ma Ninjas!


http://www.myspace.com/nothinggained
http://www.myspace.com/blackpolaris
http://www.myspace.com/waefuk

Consider this a handshake

Hello, good evening! (I'm writing this at 23:35 so to me it's evening. Good whatever time it is for you!)

I thought I'd write a little introduction to this blog, to map out a few motivations, objections and aspirations for those who find my presence here in the blogosphere a little hazy. First things first, I'm Martin; a recent Media and Cultural studies university graduate with a penchant for metal, tattoos, swearing, comedy, tea, taste and intellectualism. Essentially, I'm a pretentious wind bag who enjoys using his opinions as a cudgel on folk I consider to be in serious need of having some sense beaten into them.

I must say I enjoy dispencing opinion almost more than any other dispencings! But there's more to this blog than just my shallow and pathetic need to tell other people how wrong or crap they are with a degree of anonimity! The idea came about through my desires to pursue a career in writing; where better than the internet to hone my skills? Rife with niche audiences and cult status that it is! What better to write about than (mainly) unheard of bands? A subject with nigh on infinite examples that the majority of will just be happy to be reveiwed at all! Even if it is just some flailing ex-student wanker with a blog read by no one.

Which brings me to my next point; what I can offer. Ok I don't have a respected or well publicised opinion, or even a platform! I do however have something at least 2/16ths as important; enthusiastic, genuine and intelligent opinions and criticism direct from the audience the bands I review are trying to reach. And I hearby promise right now to not write endless slagging off reviews of bands that are the equivalent of crippled ducks with both wings broken, lying face down in the opaque water slowly drowning, begging to be blown quite literally away, just to get a cheap laugh at the expense of someones honest attempts at self expression... Well there may be a bit of that but only if they really are lame, half arsed, biological waste or wanky scene kids with delusions of grandeur; such pond life are so deserving of my swift bloggers back-hander!

As a musician myself, I know what it's like for people to be as apathetic about your band as they are about the next 'Saw' movie; so to the bands I review; I try to see the good and be fair handed in forming judgements about others serious artistic efforts... I am but a humble amateur, imparting my personal opinion, which is as important as whoever may read it decides it is. You will only assign importance to my views if you think I make any kind of valid point at all; this is a warning then; if you get mad about what I say, remember that some part of you in some way, agrees with me.

So in closing I remind you that ultimately, if your intentions are true, you have no one to blame, or to answer to, but yourselves.

In the words of the immortal Bill Hicks, I implore you all to; "play from your fucking heart!"

Thanks for reading and please subscribe!

Martin