Jill Janus (Huntress)
Huntress: it's a great name for a female-led metal band, isn't it? They've had three albums since 2012, and are led by Jill Janus, who sings and also writes all the lyrics. We're going to check out their debut album. And here it is.
Spell Eater --- Huntress --- 2012 (Napalm Records)
The first thing that comes across is that their music seems to touch on the domain of black metal, at least in lyrical content, though perhaps it's more to do with witches and magic, but the opener, and title track, shows what a powerful voice Janus has, growling out the lyric in so strong a voice that you could be fooled into mistaking her for a man. In contrast to the by comparison softer vocals of Alexia Rodriguez of Eyes Set to Kill, she snarls and spits and roars the vocals out, more a primeval woman, a pagan priestess than a pop diva. One part Suzi Quatro, one part Janis Joplin and one part a female King Diamond, she's quite something to hear. She exercises the operatic side of her voice as the track comes to a close, then “Senicide” hurtles along (killing old people, since you ask) and she really goes for it vocally here. You'd be scared listening to her, in some ways.
There's a somewhat slower, marching feel to “Sleep and death”, reminds me of eighties Iron Maiden and her voice again ascends like a dark angel and descends like an avenging valkyrie. Hard to believe this woman was once a Playboy Playmate! “Snow witch” has a more sort of doom metal approach to it, with a growled and snarled vocal from Janus, while she has a scream to chill the bones and flay the flesh off you as “Eight of Swords” kicks its way in. Honestly, this woman could give some of the strongest and most powerful male voices in metal a run for their money and hold her own with the best. She later descends into some groundshaking guttural growling here too, showing the breadth of her impressive range.
Speaking of that, “Aradia” stretches her capabilities again; not that they're not up to it. Often you can hardly hear the guitars over her voice! It's really that strong and upfront. Her operatic training comes in handy during “Night rape”, though she plumbs the darkest depths of her vocal range too. Some amazing screams and screeches though. The pace doesn't slacken at all, and neither does she, as we launch into “Children” --- you probably wouldn't let your kids anywhere near her! --- where she seems to be warning children about their murderous father:
”Run, children run!/ ... If you knew the things he's done/ Left hand is hate/ Father's become Cain” and if it was me I'd be running, though it would be that crazed voice I'd be legging it from, not some homicidal father!
“Terror” seems to evoke Sandy Hook or maybe Columbine when she shrieks
”Look at me, see my face, die!/ School is out forever!” She certainly imbues the song with a creeping, urgent sense of fear and horror, of being trapped and hunted down, then she returns to the themes of witchcraft and paganism prevalent throughout most of the album as “The tower” closes the album. Another earsplitting vocal delivery and we're out, gasping and breathing hard.
TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS
1. Spell eater
2. Senicide
3. Sleep and death
4. Snow witch
5. Eight of swords
6. Aradia
7. Night rape
8. Children
9. Terror
10. The tower
(I've marked all the tracks Green in case she takes offence and comes after me!)
Certainly one of the most powerful female voices I've heard since yer wan from Thorr's Hammer, though she seems to keep more on the really low end of the vocal scale, that growling and almost grunting so beloved of some black metal and doom metal singers, but seldom heard from a female throat. Jill Janus on the other hand can reach the high, high, high notes with earshrieking ease as well as drop to the lowest depths, to create a really varied vocal range and at times a quite frightening performance.
Lita Ford
Although she's getting on in years now (she will be celebrating her sixtieth birthday in 2018) there was a time when Lita Ford was the queen of metal. A sort of dark sister to Belinda Carlisle, both started their careers in sixties rock band The Runaways, but whereas Belinda went the pop route and had top ten hits, Lita preferred the heavier, hotter road to Heavy Metal Heaven, and with her third solo self-titled album in 1988 she scored two top twenty hits, one a duet with Ozzy himself. Further cementing the Black Sabbath links, she was managed by Sharon and briefly engaged to Tony Iommi, though she later married WASP's Chris Holmes. With eight albums under her belt, she's still going strong, with her latest released in 2012.
While I don't want to just “t&a” this section up, it would be remiss of me not to mention one of the shock acts of the NWOBHM era, and their, um, upfront singer.
Betsy Bitch (Bitch)
Of course that's not her real name --- it's Betsy Weiss --- but the name caught and fired the attention of red-blooded males (is there any other kind? Other than Vulcans I mean, and I don't think they're into heavy metal!) as did her image as an onstage dominatrix, coupled with her tongue-in-cheek BDSM lyrics. Bitch never made it, became more a novelty act than anything else, maybe because nobody took their music seriously, and to be honest it was hard to, but they played okay. Their last album (after changing their name to Betsy, and then back when that didn't work) was in 1987 so they're probably gone now. But for a while they did at least represent a very much non-PC version of “girl power” in metal that is slowly beginning to filter back through with bands like Butcher Babies.
With our featured artiste this year being Judas Priest, I couldn't really finish up without mentioning the all-girl tribute band,
Judas Priestess.
Authorised and approved by the band themselves, Judas Priestess formed in 2009 and have been pulling in the crowds with their superb renditions of heavy metal classics from one of the oldest and most respected metal bands on the planet. Fronted by MilitiA (capital A at the end very important), who has seen service (stop that!) with acts as diverse as Cyndi Lauper and Dee Snider, as well as performing in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, she is backed by Rena Sands and JoSette (again, the spelling is all-important) on guitars, Gyda Gash (stop snig
gering; I didn't invent these names!) on bass and Hillary Blaze on drums. So far as I know, they haven't released any albums but here they are live, covering one of Priest's biggest hits.
You know what? Hell with you all. They may not be strictly metal, but I'm including them because I think they're close enough. And anyway, it's an excuse to drool over such a rock chick. So sue me, I'm a guy. So they tell me...
Taylor Momsen (The Pretty Reckless)
Yeah, yeah I know! But ever since Vanilla put me wise to these guys I've thought their music is as close to metal as dammit, and I can blur the lines a little here; it's my journal after all. They've only been going since 2010 but have two albums, and naturally with looks like that frontwoman Taylor Momsen has been pursued by the gutter music press, but ignore all that and listen to their second album
Going to Hell and tell me that's not metal.
Roxanne Gordey
and
Denver Whipple
(Edge of Attack)
A power metal band from Canada, Edge of Attack only released their debut album in 2013 and I've very little information on them, other than that Roxanne (first picture above) is their vocalist and Denver handles bass duties. There are three others in the band, all male.
Dianne van Giersbergen (Xandria, Ex Libris)
Unlike some of the ladies we've encountered here, Dianne was heavily trained in classical singing, starting at the tender age of four! She has a Batchelor's and Master's degree and is currently singing in two bands, as above. Xandria are a German symphonic metal band with six albums already, in existence since early 2003, while Ex Libris are a Dutch band in the same subgenre, and have had two albums, the last of which was released last year.