Female-fronted rock groups...

**DaveWadding** · 04-04-2005, 02:07 AM

Since we were going off topic in another thread about this, I figgered what the hell. So I'll lead it off with this article that I got from www.bringmetolife.com.

If the multi-platinum success of Evanescence proved to narrow-minded rock jocks that female-fronted metal bands were viable, a fresh wave of melodic European headbangers should cement that affirmation, with their distinct blend of heavy guitars, symphonic underpinnings and soaring female vocals. Thanks to the breakthrough of Fallen, like-minded groups that court gothic and classical influences are starting to find success on American shores.

"For quite a number of years we've personally loved that sound and tried to champion it," declares Marco Barbieri, president of the Century Family of labels that includes Century Media and Nuclear Blast. "We initially liked the European, gothic-inspired stuff that came out of some of the doom and death metal bands of the early '90s. When women started joining these bands, they made it that much more exciting and compelling."

Their sounds are quite distinct. Nightwish blends gothic brooding with intense guitars and classical bombast. Their recent album, Once, features orchestra, choir and a Native American flute player. Lacuna Coil play gothic-tinged heavy rock that invokes a more aggressive Evanescence (and they have been around much longer). Leaves' Eyes, lead by former Theatre Of Tragedy singer Liv Kristine, serve up dreamy, medieval-style metal. All of these bands employ lush keyboards and often contrast their beautiful female singing with harsh male growls normally reserved for death metal. That latter concept may not sound commercial, but Evanescence may have paved the way for its acceptance through the male rap-metal exchanges of "Bring Me To Life."

Odin Thompson, label manager for Napalm Records USA and Moribund Records, sees a basic appeal for these groups � they write great music. " These bands bring that heavy edge but inject it with melody and arrangements that have been long lost from rock and roll ," he asserts. "They also offer light to the normally dark world of heavy metal, which makes them special amongst their peers." Thompson believes this subgenre has the potential for tremendous commercial success at a major label level, something Napalm has strongly believed in for years with acts like Sins Of Thy Beloved, Tristania and Sirenia.

"I'm sure the majors are probably working on their own [groups]," surmises Barbieri. "I feared that a lot of manufactured, female-fronted bands would be coming out after the first Evanescence single. Thankfully we've been spared that from the corporations, and it's being done the right way. Those that have been doing it [awhile] are gaining presence and profile."

The most obvious example of such visibility is Italy's Lacuna Coil, whose two-year-old album Comalies scanned more than 160,000 units domestically, cracking the Billboard Top 200 for several weeks last year after extensive grassroots development on radio, video play on Fuse and MTV2, and tours with P.O.D. and Ozzfest.

Following in their footsteps is Finland's Nightwish, whose album Once has sold more than 600,000 copies in Europe, topping the Pan European charts for three weeks this past summer. The band can already play 1,000-seat venues in America. While Once has only sold 15,000 copies after two months of U.S. release through Roadrunner Records, Barbieri notes that figure is close to the 20,000 units that past albums have sold through Century Media over a full year. This is also before any major promotion from Roadrunner, who will also release the pop solo album by Liv Kristine. (Coincidentally, she appears in the recent Cradle Of Filth single/video "Nymphetamine.") Moreover, SPV Records has signed Tristania, while rumors abound that Sanctuary Records may sign Within Temptation.

Why are these bands hitting now? " They offer the perfect package: excellent musicianship, melody, heaviness, deep lyrics and penetrating vocals, " remarks Liz Ciavarella, editrix for Metal Maniacs magazine. She believes women like Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia, the Gathering ' s Anneke van Giersbergen and Nightwish's Tarja Turunen "are women who are not only exquisite vocalists but who carry themselves with poise and confidence. They're beautiful but never portray themselves as anything but powerful frontwomen." Ciavarella adds that they are not band ornaments or pandering sex kittens.

Of course, it does help when your band has a potential sex symbol at its helm. While Turunen and van Giersbergen have opted away from that aspect, Scabbia was comfortable vamping it up in a tasteful two-page spread in Stuff magazine.

Although just breaking in America, atmospheric, female-fronted metal bands have been popular in Europe for nearly 10 years. "The first band that made it big over here was the Gathering," reports Goetz Kuehnemund, editor-in-chief of Germany's Rock Hard magazine. "Then there was Theatre Of Tragedy, fronted by a girl and a guy. This was the 'angel and the beast' concept that many bands do nowadays. An angelic voice and a groaning, beasty voice next to each other." He feels the ethereal metal of the Gathering paved the way for Nightwish's dark power metal with Turunen's classical vocals.

More bands are on the rise. Kuehnemund states that Within Temptation recently sold 100,000 copies of Mother Earth in Germany, while Lacuna Coil has notched sales of 30,000 units there with Comalies. Up-and-coming bands include Edenbridge and After Forever. He adds that while multi-platinum in Germany, Evanescence is not considered a part of the metal scene there. They may have opened up the door for these bands in America, but Nightwish really did it in Europe.

"Evanescence is really pop music, but these Within Temptation kind of bands are really gothic metal," observes Gathering singer van Giersbergen. "They perform in long dresses and take it to a fairy tale level," which she feels resonates strongly in Europe. "I think people are ready for something else than the usual Top 40 stuff � a bit louder, a bit harder, a bit more fantasy filled."

Van Giersbergen thinks that the Gathering is not part of this movement, but their hit albums from the mid-'90s (Mandylion and Nighttime Birds) were highly influential on the scene, and the group has repeatedly expanded boundaries by experimenting with ambient, jazz and trip-hop influences, particularly on the recent Souvenirs.

Kristine believes the contrasts in this metal subgenre are what have captivated audiences for years and keep them coming back for more. "You have the beautiful aspects of the female vocals, classical instruments, fine melodies and wonderful lyrics," she states. "These elements combined with metal guitars and drums are what make people open up their ears to this kind of music."

________________________

I don't really agree with the pro-Ev, they really brought it into America thing, because there are people that have been doing the same basic thing for much longer across genres (Barbara Keith and Melissa Auf der Maur, to name a couple) and just cause Ev made it to a chart first doesn't really mean they did it first.

**JJ Moore** · 04-04-2005, 07:42 AM

ROCKBITCH

**deathtrap** · 04-04-2005, 10:27 AM

Evanescence under went much marketing and merchandise too

**House of Pancakes** · 04-04-2005, 11:43 AM

limiting this thread to only fabricated retard music is why this whole idea sucks. it would be a better idea to cover heavy female vocalists in general.

two off of the top of my head that are great are the chick from acid king, and one of my idols, carla kihlstedt of sleepytime gorilla museum, charming hostess, tin hat trio, heavy oven, and two foot yard fame.

**DaveWadding** · 04-04-2005, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by House of Pancakes

limiting this thread to only fabricated retard music is why this whole idea sucks. it would be a better idea to cover heavy female vocalists in general.

Well then do it. I just POSTED the article, I didnt WRITE it.

**The Gooch** · 04-04-2005, 03:50 PM

I was into the Cranberries for a bit even though I'm not a big fan of female vocals. Their first 3 cd's are pretty good. After that they fell off the face of the earth.

**Rob** · 04-06-2005, 03:50 PM

Drain STH are still the fucking dogs bollox

**Anybody Thrilla** · 04-06-2005, 04:03 PM

The Start was a good band.

**Lamuella** · 04-06-2005, 05:15 PM

Kidneythieves were excellent

Birthday Massacre are very very good.

**thecc** · 04-06-2005, 08:15 PM

walls of jericho

**Danny Electric** · 04-06-2005, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anybody Thrilla

The Start was a good band.

aimee echo

**Kane Knight** · 04-07-2005, 04:54 PM

Nightwish blow ass.

04-04-2005, 02:07 AM	#1
DaveWadding LIMITLESS Posts: 32,276	Female-fronted rock groups... Since we were going off topic in another thread about this, I figgered what the hell. So I'll lead it off with this article that I got from www.bringmetolife.com. If the multi-platinum success of Evanescence proved to narrow-minded rock jocks that female-fronted metal bands were viable, a fresh wave of melodic European headbangers should cement that affirmation, with their distinct blend of heavy guitars, symphonic underpinnings and soaring female vocals. Thanks to the breakthrough of Fallen, like-minded groups that court gothic and classical influences are starting to find success on American shores. "For quite a number of years we've personally loved that sound and tried to champion it," declares Marco Barbieri, president of the Century Family of labels that includes Century Media and Nuclear Blast. "We initially liked the European, gothic-inspired stuff that came out of some of the doom and death metal bands of the early '90s. When women started joining these bands, they made it that much more exciting and compelling." Their sounds are quite distinct. Nightwish blends gothic brooding with intense guitars and classical bombast. Their recent album, Once, features orchestra, choir and a Native American flute player. Lacuna Coil play gothic-tinged heavy rock that invokes a more aggressive Evanescence (and they have been around much longer). Leaves' Eyes, lead by former Theatre Of Tragedy singer Liv Kristine, serve up dreamy, medieval-style metal. All of these bands employ lush keyboards and often contrast their beautiful female singing with harsh male growls normally reserved for death metal. That latter concept may not sound commercial, but Evanescence may have paved the way for its acceptance through the male rap-metal exchanges of "Bring Me To Life." Odin Thompson, label manager for Napalm Records USA and Moribund Records, sees a basic appeal for these groups � they write great music. " These bands bring that heavy edge but inject it with melody and arrangements that have been long lost from rock and roll ," he asserts. "They also offer light to the normally dark world of heavy metal, which makes them special amongst their peers." Thompson believes this subgenre has the potential for tremendous commercial success at a major label level, something Napalm has strongly believed in for years with acts like Sins Of Thy Beloved, Tristania and Sirenia. "I'm sure the majors are probably working on their own [groups]," surmises Barbieri. "I feared that a lot of manufactured, female-fronted bands would be coming out after the first Evanescence single. Thankfully we've been spared that from the corporations, and it's being done the right way. Those that have been doing it [awhile] are gaining presence and profile." The most obvious example of such visibility is Italy's Lacuna Coil, whose two-year-old album Comalies scanned more than 160,000 units domestically, cracking the Billboard Top 200 for several weeks last year after extensive grassroots development on radio, video play on Fuse and MTV2, and tours with P.O.D. and Ozzfest. Following in their footsteps is Finland's Nightwish, whose album Once has sold more than 600,000 copies in Europe, topping the Pan European charts for three weeks this past summer. The band can already play 1,000-seat venues in America. While Once has only sold 15,000 copies after two months of U.S. release through Roadrunner Records, Barbieri notes that figure is close to the 20,000 units that past albums have sold through Century Media over a full year. This is also before any major promotion from Roadrunner, who will also release the pop solo album by Liv Kristine. (Coincidentally, she appears in the recent Cradle Of Filth single/video "Nymphetamine.") Moreover, SPV Records has signed Tristania, while rumors abound that Sanctuary Records may sign Within Temptation. Why are these bands hitting now? " They offer the perfect package: excellent musicianship, melody, heaviness, deep lyrics and penetrating vocals, " remarks Liz Ciavarella, editrix for Metal Maniacs magazine. She believes women like Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia, the Gathering ' s Anneke van Giersbergen and Nightwish's Tarja Turunen "are women who are not only exquisite vocalists but who carry themselves with poise and confidence. They're beautiful but never portray themselves as anything but powerful frontwomen." Ciavarella adds that they are not band ornaments or pandering sex kittens. Of course, it does help when your band has a potential sex symbol at its helm. While Turunen and van Giersbergen have opted away from that aspect, Scabbia was comfortable vamping it up in a tasteful two-page spread in Stuff magazine. Although just breaking in America, atmospheric, female-fronted metal bands have been popular in Europe for nearly 10 years. "The first band that made it big over here was the Gathering," reports Goetz Kuehnemund, editor-in-chief of Germany's Rock Hard magazine. "Then there was Theatre Of Tragedy, fronted by a girl and a guy. This was the 'angel and the beast' concept that many bands do nowadays. An angelic voice and a groaning, beasty voice next to each other." He feels the ethereal metal of the Gathering paved the way for Nightwish's dark power metal with Turunen's classical vocals. More bands are on the rise. Kuehnemund states that Within Temptation recently sold 100,000 copies of Mother Earth in Germany, while Lacuna Coil has notched sales of 30,000 units there with Comalies. Up-and-coming bands include Edenbridge and After Forever. He adds that while multi-platinum in Germany, Evanescence is not considered a part of the metal scene there. They may have opened up the door for these bands in America, but Nightwish really did it in Europe. "Evanescence is really pop music, but these Within Temptation kind of bands are really gothic metal," observes Gathering singer van Giersbergen. "They perform in long dresses and take it to a fairy tale level," which she feels resonates strongly in Europe. "I think people are ready for something else than the usual Top 40 stuff � a bit louder, a bit harder, a bit more fantasy filled." Van Giersbergen thinks that the Gathering is not part of this movement, but their hit albums from the mid-'90s (Mandylion and Nighttime Birds) were highly influential on the scene, and the group has repeatedly expanded boundaries by experimenting with ambient, jazz and trip-hop influences, particularly on the recent Souvenirs. Kristine believes the contrasts in this metal subgenre are what have captivated audiences for years and keep them coming back for more. "You have the beautiful aspects of the female vocals, classical instruments, fine melodies and wonderful lyrics," she states. "These elements combined with metal guitars and drums are what make people open up their ears to this kind of music." ________________________ I don't really agree with the pro-Ev, they really brought it into America thing, because there are people that have been doing the same basic thing for much longer across genres (Barbara Keith and Melissa Auf der Maur, to name a couple) and just cause Ev made it to a chart first doesn't really mean they did it first. "My belly's just a little big, my heinie's just a little big, but bruddah, I'm bad and they know I'm bad." - Dusty Rhodes

04-04-2005, 07:42 AM	#2
JJ Moore Worm Of Reality Posts: 4,062	ROCKBITCH

04-04-2005, 10:27 AM	#3
deathtrap Posts: 10,685	Evanescence under went much marketing and merchandise too

04-04-2005, 11:43 AM	#4
House of Pancakes Suicide's on the menu Posts: 914	limiting this thread to only fabricated retard music is why this whole idea sucks. it would be a better idea to cover heavy female vocalists in general. two off of the top of my head that are great are the chick from acid king, and one of my idols, carla kihlstedt of sleepytime gorilla museum, charming hostess, tin hat trio, heavy oven, and two foot yard fame.

04-04-2005, 03:50 PM	#6
The Gooch Enlarged Member Posts: 2,070	I was into the Cranberries for a bit even though I'm not a big fan of female vocals. Their first 3 cd's are pretty good. After that they fell off the face of the earth.

04-06-2005, 03:50 PM	#7
Rob Part time poster Posts: 22,963	Drain STH are still the fucking dogs bollox

04-06-2005, 04:03 PM	#8
Anybody Thrilla Cranky Kong Posts: 78,671	The Start was a good band.

04-06-2005, 05:15 PM	#9
Lamuella Forum Happy Cat Posts: 7,884	Kidneythieves were excellent Birthday Massacre are very very good.

04-06-2005, 08:15 PM	#10
thecc Polyam cult member #420 Posts: 2,966	walls of jericho

04-07-2005, 04:54 PM	#12
Kane Knight Ron Paul 4 EVA Posts: 152,467	Nightwish blow ass.