For April I have a theme: metal bands with female singers. Sure there have always been some rockin’ girls out there, but it wasn’t until Evanescence that I got the taste, really, for chick goth metal.
In this Moment is like the prequel to this adventure. I heard “Daddy’s Fallen Angel” in a rental car far from home and went on a quest to find the album. I had mistakenly thought it was a metal band with a girl back up singer (hey it was a convertible, the top was down…). Instead i get a metal band with a lead female vocalist who can sing, growl, scream and rock. I was pleased. While more traditional metal than the rest of this list, I still recommend.
For the beginner: Because of the vast difference between the first two albums, hard to say. Recommend “The Dream” for everyone, and “Beautiful Tragedy” for those who like their metal chicks a bit more, well, metal.
This was the start of it all. I started a search on Amazon for “the guy who left Evanescence and I think started his own band, maybe” and somehow ended up here. Within Temptation are a Dutch band (they sing in English) who started in 1996. Easiest way to describe them is like Evanescence, but better. And they’ve been doing it longer too. I put “Within Temptation” into my Slacker Radio (slacker.com) and that started the rest.
Within Temptation’s new album is called “The Unforgiving” and is a concept album with a comic book and short films (music videos) associated with it. The first single is “Faster” and has been blasted out of my open car windows more than once already.
For the beginner: While the new album rocks, I still think that “The Heart of Everything” is where to start.
Nightwish is over the top symphonic metal and I love every minute of it. Finnish, they also formed in 1996. There There have been two female lead singers of Nightwish, but I am a fan of both. Naturally there are others who are more polarized on the issue.
Nightwish does not yet have a new album out, but I had to include them anyway. They have announced a new album this fall, I’ll update then.
For the beginner: This one is harder because of the lead singer change. Recommend “Dark Passion Play” and “Once”
UnSun is a Polish band. They are newer, having started in 2006, but still good. While a bit ligher than Within Temptation and don’t have an orchestra and band of singing monks like Nightwish, they are still
For the beginner: “Clinc for Dolls” is where to start.
The Birthday Massacre isn’t metal, per se. I’d really classify them as “dark wave” or something (wiki says ‘synthrock’) but they showed up on the Slacker Radio station and I fell in love. More traditional sync goth music rather than goth metal, they still
Bithday Massacre’s newest album is “Pins and Needles”
For the beginner: All of them? Get “Walking with Strangers” or “Pins and Needles” and then if you like, just get the others.
