Harpies in Heavy Metal
In a genre often dubbed as a "sausage-fest", female singers are busting balls with their vocal skills.
“YOU wanna see carnage? Come to a show. I deliver.” Michele Madden, the singer of Tourettes, is the epitome of hard-ass. Before she learnt to take her frustrations to the gym, Madden broke fellow band mate Ashley Manning’s arm when words flew about Ozzy Osbourne.
Most people mistake Madden for a man when she’s performing and that’s the way she wants it. “I like the fact that I am raw up there, people listen to the music first. The shape I am in makes them think.” Madden describes her lyric writing as her “brain vomiting onto paper”. She clearly takes pride in her anger, controlling and crystallising it for “that one perfect moment on stage”.
Madden’s arrogant, self-assured and wants world domination. And she’s not alone. Women have always had an edgy side in music but it’s only recently their heavy metal screams are gaining in popularity.
“I’ve been singing my own soundtrack forever but I’ve had no formal training. I’ve developed my sound over the seven years I’ve been doing this” she said. When asked to impart wisdom on technique she replied “Give it a go if you feel it falls within your range, work on it and take it from there.”
Going against the grain of the metal world is Alison Cunningham, a clean vocalist for Sydney-based band Anjeliina. Cunningham didn’t listen to any female-fronted bands before she joined her latest venture. “If the music is heavy, I want the fucking voice to be heavy as well. They all sing operatic and a lot of people like it, but I think you’re ruining it.
“I really don’t like this pretty face singing “la la”, this little angelic thing they add to the band as a fixed thing. I prefer Angela from Arch Enemy. Give me fucking power and aggression any day.”
Cunningham has had a formal vocal background. Like her idol, Tori Amos, she drifted from the traditional way of singing to a road less travelled. “It’s kind of ironic that there isn’t a band with all clean vocals that I like, so I’m making one.
“When I say we’re a female fronted metal band, people say ‘Oh, you’re like Evanescence’ and I reply ‘Except they’re not metal at all’. We have no one to compare ourselves to.”
But if Cunningham wants to be heavy, why only clean vocals? Every professional she has asked for advice said long-term screaming would permanently damage vocal chords and she doesn’t want to prove them right.
“There’s definitely safer ways to growl, but whoever says it’s not doing damage is lying.”
This is where Melissa Cross begs to differ. Cross is a voice teacher specialising in heavy metal. During her 19 years experience she’s trained Randy Blythe from Lamb of God, Angela Gossow from Arch Enemy and oddly enough, the demure Ben Lee.
According to Cross, every day voice work can wear and tear your vocal chords to the point where a doctor would consider as damage. She uses the analogy of Tiger Wood’s wrists: they wouldn’t be 100 per cent healthy to a doctor specialising in muscle wear but in his profession, slight physical setbacks are expected.
The petite red-head claims you can only do damage to your vocal chords if your technique is wrong.
“However, it’s never too late to learn. Even if you’ve messed yourself up, you can make what you have work very well with help.
“If you say you can’t do a certain style, you can’t. The voice is very personal.”
Based in New York City, Cross emphasises that women can scream as good as, if not better, than men. If you have an alto or lower vocal range, screaming and growling is your piece of cake, regardless of sans Adam’s apple. “It’s all about learning the proper coordination. Using proper breath pressure avoids the over-slamming of the cords in
your larynx.”
However, she admits that some singers can’t swing both ways, “There are certain kinds of wear that are not appropriate for classical performance. You need to maintain traditional vocal practice to preserve the purity of your range.”
Alison Cunningham is adamant that if she has to choose between doing the “growling” and eventually loosing high notes, there is no compromise.
Madden doesn’t care if her voice becomes hoarse. It would add character.
Emotions embodied in metal music are not typically considered feminine, stated Cross, but because of the spotlight on metal, more women are getting involved and aren’t afraid of showing aggression.
Like anything, more awareness means more acceptance.
Gender is a moot point to Madden, “I wouldn’t bleat on about wanting equality as I have seen so many do before me, only to hold up the chick card when shit was not to their liking or got to hard. Boo hoo honey, go to the bar and order a whine-e-kin. D.H. Lawrence once said ‘Be a good animal, true to your animal instincts’. Mine tell me to do what I am doing. You like what we do? Good. You don’t? I don’t care. I like what I do.”
“YOU wanna see carnage? Come to a show. I deliver.” Michele Madden, the singer of Tourettes, is the epitome of hard-ass. Before she learnt to take her frustrations to the gym, Madden broke fellow band mate Ashley Manning’s arm when words flew about Ozzy Osbourne.
Michele Madden
Most people mistake Madden for a man when she’s performing and that’s the way she wants it. “I like the fact that I am raw up there, people listen to the music first. The shape I am in makes them think.” Madden describes her lyric writing as her “brain vomiting onto paper”. She clearly takes pride in her anger, controlling and crystallising it for “that one perfect moment on stage”.
Madden’s arrogant, self-assured and wants world domination. And she’s not alone. Women have always had an edgy side in music but it’s only recently their heavy metal screams are gaining in popularity.
“I’ve been singing my own soundtrack forever but I’ve had no formal training. I’ve developed my sound over the seven years I’ve been doing this” she said. When asked to impart wisdom on technique she replied “Give it a go if you feel it falls within your range, work on it and take it from there.”
Going against the grain of the metal world is Alison Cunningham, a clean vocalist for Sydney-based band Anjeliina. Cunningham didn’t listen to any female-fronted bands before she joined her latest venture. “If the music is heavy, I want the fucking voice to be heavy as well. They all sing operatic and a lot of people like it, but I think you’re ruining it.
“I really don’t like this pretty face singing “la la”, this little angelic thing they add to the band as a fixed thing. I prefer Angela from Arch Enemy. Give me fucking power and aggression any day.”
Ali Cunningham
“When I say we’re a female fronted metal band, people say ‘Oh, you’re like Evanescence’ and I reply ‘Except they’re not metal at all’. We have no one to compare ourselves to.”
But if Cunningham wants to be heavy, why only clean vocals? Every professional she has asked for advice said long-term screaming would permanently damage vocal chords and she doesn’t want to prove them right.
“There’s definitely safer ways to growl, but whoever says it’s not doing damage is lying.”
This is where Melissa Cross begs to differ. Cross is a voice teacher specialising in heavy metal. During her 19 years experience she’s trained Randy Blythe from Lamb of God, Angela Gossow from Arch Enemy and oddly enough, the demure Ben Lee.
Melissa Cross and Randy Blythe from Lamb of God
According to Cross, every day voice work can wear and tear your vocal chords to the point where a doctor would consider as damage. She uses the analogy of Tiger Wood’s wrists: they wouldn’t be 100 per cent healthy to a doctor specialising in muscle wear but in his profession, slight physical setbacks are expected.
The petite red-head claims you can only do damage to your vocal chords if your technique is wrong.
“However, it’s never too late to learn. Even if you’ve messed yourself up, you can make what you have work very well with help.
“If you say you can’t do a certain style, you can’t. The voice is very personal.”
Based in New York City, Cross emphasises that women can scream as good as, if not better, than men. If you have an alto or lower vocal range, screaming and growling is your piece of cake, regardless of sans Adam’s apple. “It’s all about learning the proper coordination. Using proper breath pressure avoids the over-slamming of the cords in
your larynx.”
However, she admits that some singers can’t swing both ways, “There are certain kinds of wear that are not appropriate for classical performance. You need to maintain traditional vocal practice to preserve the purity of your range.”
Alison Cunningham is adamant that if she has to choose between doing the “growling” and eventually loosing high notes, there is no compromise.
Madden doesn’t care if her voice becomes hoarse. It would add character.
Emotions embodied in metal music are not typically considered feminine, stated Cross, but because of the spotlight on metal, more women are getting involved and aren’t afraid of showing aggression.
Like anything, more awareness means more acceptance.
Gender is a moot point to Madden, “I wouldn’t bleat on about wanting equality as I have seen so many do before me, only to hold up the chick card when shit was not to their liking or got to hard. Boo hoo honey, go to the bar and order a whine-e-kin. D.H. Lawrence once said ‘Be a good animal, true to your animal instincts’. Mine tell me to do what I am doing. You like what we do? Good. You don’t? I don’t care. I like what I do.”
