I saw them live and cannot recommend them enough. Their singer is shockingly talented. It’s like if Cher were possessed by Pazuzu
Oh, man. Nice.
Completely slipped under my radar, so thanks for posting this (especially as someone who listens to female-led metal more than pretty much anything else).
Her voice reminds me a tiny bit of Melody from Liliac (though not nearly as raspy).
Also, yeah. Sounds like there’s a little Doro influence in there a bit, like the other commenter mentioned. (Maybe there’s just a touch of evil in her mind.)
Not quite my music, but a cool voice indeed. If you don’t know her, also check German/American Doro (ex-Warlock, probably the first female-fronted metal band): https://yewtu.be/watch?v=7kIxo8-ucf8 This reminded me a bit of her, probably because of the power of her voice even though it does sound different.
Oh yeah, Doro is classic. She rules the ruins!
They weren’t the first, but still definitely one of the best.
And somehow, she still manages to belt it out without much issue after nearly four decades. (In good company there, with Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford.)
They weren’t the first
Who were the first? Everything else I’ve ever seen was (in my uneducated opinion) very much not metal.
And somehow, she still manages to belt it out without much issue after nearly four decades.
I haven’t seen her in almost 2 decades, but back then was awesome, small concert hall in Northern Germany, no distance from fans to band, just a slightly raised stage (maybe 0.5m) :D
I believe BlackLace formed around a year or so before Warlock, though they both released their debut albums in '84 (I’m not sure which was actually released first, but I think it was Warlock). BlackLace had a demo album floating around before that, but nothing official.
There’s also Girlschool who released their first album in 1980, with a great cover of Race With The Devil.
Later did some stuff with Lemmy from Motörhead as well.
I think finding “the first” of anything when it comes to bands and genres like these is impossible to answer definitively.
Sexism was a pretty big factor in why many female bands never came out from underground.
That and also the “hard rock vs. heavy metal” argument, which I tend to stay away from.
I think it’s fair to say Warlock is the first majorly successful female-fronted metal band, but there’s always been stuff happening that doesn’t hit the airwaves or get more than a small, niche group of followers.
There’s also Girlschool who released their first album in 1980, with a great cover of Race With The Devil.
They are the ones I usually find, but for me everything there screams “rock, not metal”, but maybe that’s just me (after all I’d also say that about some Black Sabbath stuff, so it’s very clear I have no idea what I’m talking about)
I believe BlackLace
Ohh, nice, I had never heard of them before. That actually sounds kinda cool.
formed around a year or so before Warlock
Yeah, wikipedia agrees. Though there was Snakebite, Doro’s first band which got founded yet another year before BlackLace :D But they never released anything but a demo, so I’d say they don’t count and BlackLace gets the honor indeed :D
Sexism was a pretty big factor in why many female bands never came out from underground.
Boy, do I believe that.
CALL OF THE WIIIIIIIIILD! Damn, now I got that stuck in my ear :D
(after all I’d also say that about some Black Sabbath stuff, so it’s very clear I have no idea what I’m talking about)
Lol, nah. Everyone just has their own perspective on what makes something “heavy enough” to be heavy metal.
As extreme metal got more, well, extreme (also the name of a hair metal band, ironically) audiences grew to have different expectations.
It’s funny, actually. There was a time when thrash was “too extreme”. Then the next extreme subgenre and then that subgenre’s subgenre and that subgenre’s subgenre’s subgenre.
Now Metallica is “too tame” for some people.
It’s all pretty arbitrary, IMO.
No one can even agree on what the first metal song was. Was it Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf or something by Sabbath or Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin? Was it Helter Skelter by the Beatles?
Ask the internet and everyone says something different.
As long as we enjoy what we listen to, that’s all that really matters.
But they never released anything but a demo, so I’d say they don’t count and BlackLace gets the honor indeed :D
Lol, maybe. But I’m sure they were both preceded by some random woman who sounded amazing, took to the stage and killed it, and we’ll never hear her voice or learn who she was. We’ll probably also never hear the real first heavy metal song that some random band probably played in a pub and annoyed the shit out of everyone.
CALL OF THE WIIIIIIIIILD! Damn, now I got that stuck in my ear :D
Hah. I’m glad you like it. I know you mentioned you don’t like traditional metal, but just in case you or anyone else is interested, Marta Gabriel from the band Crystal Viper (Witch’s Mark for a sample song) did an entire tribute album for a bunch of lesser known female artists/one hit wonders from the '80s, including Call of the Wild. It’s not all that different from the original (only real difference is the addition of some male vocals), but you can hear more of Doro’s influence on her as well.
Edit: This comment got longer than I expected. Apologies! (Also, I hope it only shows up once because I was getting an error submitting it at first.)